


Something There

by Fyre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-01
Packaged: 2017-11-16 21:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 50,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyre/pseuds/Fyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They reach the mines too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to and including The Crocodile.

The cart rattled to a stop.

The girl, Belle, was sitting inside it. Ruby bit her lip. Not just sitting. Shackled. There was a cuff binding her to the edge of the cart. She looked terrified, and no wonder. A gesture from Mr Gold - Rumpelstiltskin - whatever - snapped the cuff, and James leaned into the car, helping her out.

Rumpelstiltskin moved forward. "Are you all right?" he asked, the gentleness of his voice still such a shock. He wasn't meant to have a soft side, but he gave the girl one of his sweaters to keep her warm. He worried about her. he did crazy powerful magic to save her.

Blue eyes looked at him, dazed. "I think so," she stammered.

"And you remember me? You know who I am?"

Belle stared at him, then slowly nodded her head. "Mr Gold. You're Mr Gold. You're going to protect me." She looked around, like a scared kid. "Wh-who are all these people?"

Ruby felt sick. They were too late.

"Don't you worry, sweetheart," Rumpelstiltskin said. He shed his jacket and gently draped it around Belle's shoulders to keep off the chill of the mines. "They won't hurt you."

"Is she..." Moe French spoke and Ruby stepped between him and the girl who had been his daughter.

"Get out of here," she said, her voice shaking. "Get out of here right now."

"She's my daughter," Moe protested.

"Not anymore," James said, stepping alongside her. "You lost any right you had to her when you stripped her of her memory."

"Who is he?" Belle's voice sounded thin and frightened. "Why does he think he's my father?"

"Because he's a madman," Rumpelstiltskin said, his voice gentle, but Ruby didn't dare look around to see the expression on Rumpelstiltskin's face. He'd almost take Moe's head off with his cane before, but now, with Belle without her memory, it amazed her that he hadn't just smashed the guy's face in. "Come along, dear. We'll get you back into daylight." 

They came alongside Ruby and James. Rumpelstiltskin had his arm gently around Belle's shoulder, and he looked at Ruby.

"Miss Lucas, if I can impose upon you?"

Ruby nodded. "I'll drive you back," she said. "James?"

"Moe and I are going to have a little... talk," James said coldly.

Given the choice of angering Rumpelstiltskin or James, Ruby had a feeling that James was the worse person to upset. He was a good man, and it took a lot to make a good man really angry. Right now, the fury was rolling off him in waves, and Ruby wondered idly if Moe had his medical insurance up to date to include being beaten senseless.

"Come on," she said, touching Belle gently on the arm. "We'll get you back to town and get you cleaned up."

When they emerged into daylight, Belle stumbling on her high heels, the girl stared at the van. "What's that?" she asked in an uncertain voice.

"It's a vehicle, sweetheart," Rumpelstiltskin said gently. "It has machinery inside it to make it move. It's quite safe."

She looked at him, and the blankness in her blue eyes made Ruby shiver. "Like your motorcar?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, but he looked like he wanted to weep. "Exactly like that," he said, "only a little bigger. This is what people use to transport large objects." He opened the passenger door for her, helping her up into the seat.

"Mr Gold?" Ruby said in a low voice. "Why doesn't she know what a van is?"

He looked at her bleakly. "Because Regina didn't bother to give her any memories of this world when she imprisoned her," he said. "All she knows is life in a cell. No history. No family. Just a prison." He climbed up into the seat beside Belle, helping her fasten the seatbelt. "See, dear. Not so frightening after all."

Ruby closed the door for them, her hands trembling against the handle.

It was difficult enough to have the memories of the old and the new world overlapping in her head, but the thought of living in a world that she had no idea about, with no memory of who she was or where she came from, was terrifying.

She took a breath, knowing she had to at least pretend to be calm for the sake of the girl in the van. The girl with no memories, no friends, and only the knowledge that Mr Gold was going to protect her.

Ruby circled the van and climbed into the driver's seat, giving Belle her warmest smile. "We'll get you both home," she said. "You're going to love Mr Gold's house."

Belle looked at Rumpelstiltskin, who was watching her attentively. "I'll stay with you?"

He patted her hands gently. "Of course, dear," he murmured. "As long as you like, you're welcome in my home. It'll be safe there."

She nodded, looking down at their hands, and he withdrew his hand as if she had shoved him away.

What must it be like, Ruby wondered, to have the person you loved right in front of you without any idea who you were? 

She started the engine and pulled away from the mines, trying not to pay attention to the distant cry of pain she heard echoing from the tunnels. 

They reached Rumpelstiltskin's house within fifteen minutes, and Ruby watched in silence as he helped Belle down from the van. He looked at her, looking as shaken as he had when she handed back the sweater. "Thank you, Miss Lucas," he said. "You've been very helpful."

Ruby could see the way Belle was shivering. "Do you want me to stay and help?" she asked. "I could cook or something."

He hesitated, then looked at Belle. "Would you like some company, Belle?" Belle nodded wordlessly, and in turn, Rumpelstiltskin looked up at Ruby. "If you could spare a little time, that would be very kind of you."

Ruby hopped down from the van, slamming the door, and came around to Belle's side. "I know you don't know me," she said with a small smile at Belle, "but I'm Ruby."

"I-I'm Belle," Belle replied, though she looked uncertain as she said. "A-at least, I think I am?"

"You are, sweetheart," Rumpelstiltskin said gently. "That's your name." He put his hand lightly on her back. "Let's get you inside. You've had enough excitement for one day, don't you think?"

She nodded, letting him lead her towards the house. Ruby followed, watching quietly as the man known as the terror of the forest helped the girl up the steps, his arm around her waist, supporting her. Even a blind man could see he that he loved her.

She wondered what had driven Belle to the diner, remembering that the other girl said she could be heading towards a break-up. If someone loved her as much as Rumpelstiltskin clearly loved Belle, Ruby wondered if she would be able to let them go.

It was the first time Ruby had been into the infamous pink house, and it looked every bit as beautiful as she had expected. Still, she wasn't here to ogle the furniture. "Mr Gold," she said, slipping off her shoes for fear of scratching the floor. "Is it okay if I call Granny and let her know I'm here?"

"Of course," he said without even looking at her. He was supporting Belle with one hand as she stepped out of her heeled shoes, catching her when she faltered. "It's in the living room."

Granny, predictably, ranted and railed about the danger of fraternising with Rumpelstiltskin in a place where magic was back and he could be a danger, until Ruby explained in urgent whispers about the girl. Granny fell silent, then finally asked, "How bad is it?"

"She doesn't have any memories," Ruby said quietly. "Regina locked her up and didn't give her memories of this land or anyone in it."

Granny released an explosive breath. "You stay with her, girl," she said. "You keep her safe."

"I will," Ruby promised. She set down the telephone and made her way towards the kitchen on bare feet. She could smell tea, and she pushed the door open to peep in.

Rumpelstiltskin was pouring tea for Belle, who was sitting at the table, still wrapped in his coat. She looked small and lost and afraid. Both of them looked up when she pushed the door a little wider and stepped into the kitchen. She made herself smile, wandering over to the table.

"Granny says I can stay as long as I'm needed," she said, sitting down beside Belle. 

"Good," Rumpelstiltskin murmured quietly, sliding a third cup across the table towards her.

Belle was cradling her cup between her hands, looking down into it. She raised her eyes and looked at them both. "Can you tell me who I am?" she asked in a small voice. "Please, I don't know."

Rumpelstiltskin sat down. "It's a long story," he murmured, "and some of it may sound hard to believe."

Belle's eyes were bright with tears. "I have to know," she said. "Why was I in the hospital? Why don't I remember? Why was I in the mines?"

"It's okay," Ruby said, putting her arm around the girl. "Mr Gold'll explain everything." She met his eyes, holding them. "Won't you?"

Rumpelstiltskin was pale and drawn, but he nodded.

 

__________________________________________________

 

Belle was in the bath.

She had almost wept at the luxury of having a tub and water that was more than a lukewarm powerhose. Ruby added all the bubblebath she could find, until the bath looked like it was more bubbles than water, then ushered Belle into the room, leaving her with a stack of soft towels and a modest nightdress. There was even a fluffy bathrobe and matching slippers.

Belle didn't lock the door. She left it open a crack, and after hearing about the asylum, Ruby couldn't blame her for it. Having a door closed on her again would be too much like being locked in.

"Belle, I'm just going downstairs to make some dinner," she called through the door. "Come down when you're done, okay?"

"Okay!" 

She sounded happier, which was something, but Ruby had a feeling that the 'everything' that Rumpelstiltskin had explained wasn't 'everything' as most people would know it. It felt like there was something missing from the story, a reason for Regina to want to hurt him so much, a reason for him to throw Belle out in the first place. He had avoided any implications of love, for fear of scaring her too much. The tale he told implied a friendship in another place and time. 

The story had reassured Belle, though. That was important. When Ruby nodded and told her it was all true, she didn't look so scared anymore.

Ruby padded down the stairs.

Rumpelstiltskin was sitting in the darkened livingroom, an empty glass cradled between his hands. The open decanter on the table beside him suggested it hadn't been empty for long.

"Hey," Ruby said quietly, leaning against the doorframe.

Rumpelstiltskin looked up, and she could see him pulling himself up to be Mr Gold as she knew him. "Miss Lucas," he said. "Is Belle..."

"She's having a bath," Ruby said. She walked into the room, arms folded over her middle. "What was going on between you guys?"

He poured himself another glass of some kind of amber liquid. "In what sense?"

"She was in the diner this morning," she said. "Talking about the fact she might be breaking up with someone, who I figure has to be you."

Everyone knew Mr Gold cared about nothing and no one, but the way his face crumpled, the way he drained the glass and poured another, told another story. "I did wonder," he said, staring at the glass. He looked up at her. "You know my reputation, Miss Lucas. What kind of woman could ever care for that kind of man?"

"You mean the kind of man who takes off his own coat to wrap it around her because she's cold?" she asked quietly. "The man who takes her in, even when she has no idea who he is, just to keep her safe?"

He covered his eyes with one hand, rubbing at them. "A woman who tries to believe the man she loves is more than just a monster. I don't want to hurt her by being exactly what I am."

"Think about who you're talking to, Rumpelstiltskin," Ruby said, sitting down on the arm of a chair. He lowered his hand, looking blankly at her. "You know what I was in the forest. I had a true love once. Peter." She smiled sadly. "He's gone now. Because I didn't know what I was. I didn't know how dangerous I was." She shrugged. "Because of him, because I lost him, I learned to control it."

He shook his head. "It's not the same, dearie," he said.

She propped one foot on the seat of the chair. "I don't see why not," she said. "So you're the Dark One. So you were so terrible and horrible and evil. So what?" She gazed at him evenly. "I've probably killed more people than you could count. People I knew. People I might have thought of as friends. I'm cursed. You're cursed. We've both done terrible things because of it. How is it any different?"

He looked awful, his face lined and drawn. "Because I chose to do those things. You had no choice."

"And now," she countered, "you can choose not to."

He said nothing, pouring himself another glass.

Ruby got up. "I'm going to make something to eat. Do you know what Belle likes?"

"Something homely," he murmured. "For now, I think simple is better."

"I'll see what I can do," she said, rocking on the balls of her feet. She hesitated, then said, "You could come and help me, you know. It might be better for you than brooding in the dark." He stared blindly past her and drained his glass. Ruby shrugged. "Okay. I'll just go and turn your pristine, shiny kitchen into a disaster area."

She went through and immediately started rattling through drawers and cupboards, and within two minutes, Rumpelstiltskin stalked through the doors, glowering.

"Are you trying to break every damned thing?"

She pulled a face at him. "I don't know where anything is," she said. "The guy who owns this place is a real jerk and wouldn't tell me where to find anything."

"You walk on thin ice, dearie."

She bared her teeth at him. "Look whose talking," she replied. 

They stared at one another across the kitchen counter, then he sighed. "Very well. Let's call pax for the moment. Belle needs company, and that's the only reason you're here."

"Well, it's definitely not for your charm and personality," she retorted. She opened up the refrigerator, looking through it and pulled out the drawer of vegetables, setting it on the counter, then collected a tray of meat. "You any good at chopping vegetables?"

"I have some skill with a knife," he replied, fetching her a cutting board and a couple of knives.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ruby said, shaking her head. "Chop a couple of onions, and some potatoes into smallish pieces. I'll deal with the meat."

By the time Belle crept into the room, Ruby and Rumpelstiltskin were arguing heatedly.

"If you had added the marinade when I told you to, it would have flavoured it better!"

"Ha!" Rumpelstiltskin snorted. "Your frilly sauces would only have wasted a perfectly good piece of pork! If you want to add some sticky mess to your own afterwards, you can do that as you will."

Ruby set the skillet down and turned around to glare at him. "That's not how a marinade works! I thought you said you had a history in alchemy!"

"Alchemy, dearie, not cookery," Rumpelstiltskin said, waving a finger at her. "Two very different disciplines."

"Oh, really?" Ruby said. "Do you or do you not mix up pieces of plants? Very specific measurements? To create a specific reaction?"

"Reaction, yes, not flavour," Rumpelstiltskin said, scowling, as he mashed the potatoes. "Can you pass the butter?"

"For your mashed alchemy?" Ruby pulled a face at the back of his head.

Belle giggled, making them both look around. She was standing in the doorway, pink-cheeked, and her hair was loose in damp curls around her shoulders.

Ruby glanced at Rumpelstiltskin, watching the way his expression softened as soon as Belle stepped into the room.

"Good bath?" he asked.

Belle held up her hands. "I'm all wrinkled," she said happily. "I forgot how nice it feels to be warm all over."

Ruby didn't miss the grief-stricken look that briefly crossed Rumpelstiltskin's face. "Good thing you won't have to worry about that again," she said, smiling as warmly as she could. "Take a seat. We're just finishing dinner."

Belle pattered over to the table, sitting down carefully, arranging her bathrobe around her. It was white, covered her down to her calves, and was big enough that it made her look like a child wrapped up in an adult's clothes. She rested her arms on the table, watching them.

Rumpelstiltskin let Ruby serve up the food, shooting a dark look at her when she drizzled some of the marinade sauce over Belle's portion. She put out her tongue at him and carried the plate over for Belle, setting it down. "I hope you're hungry," she said, smiling.

"It looks great," Belle said, eyes shining. "It smells better than the stuff they gave me in the hospital." She knelt up on the chair, casting a smile up at Rumpelstiltskin as he approached with his own plate and a pitcher of flavoured water. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure, Belle," he said, sitting down opposite her. "Truly."

Belle ducked her head, blushing.

Ruby hid a smile. It looked like some ties went too deep to be easily severed by a little thing like a curse. Mary Margaret and David were a perfect example. True love was still there, under everything. Looked like it was here too.


	2. Chapter 2

Belle - if that was really her name - felt warm and sheltered and safe for the first time in years.

Everything about the house was nothing like the room that had been her home for as long as she could remember. There were colours, textures, and bright, glittering objects. Even the smell of the furniture polish on the gleaming wood was wonderful. It wasn't white and padded and clinical.

The food made her head spin.

There were flavours, so many flavours. She sat with the first bite in her mouth for almost a whole minute just to savour the taste, before remembering to finally chew and swallow.

Mr Gold, her protector, and Ruby, her new friend, watched her as they both ate.

She wondered if it was because they expected her to do something wrong.

"Is it all right, sweetheart?" Mr Gold asked. He spoke to her gently, as if afraid of scaring her.

Belle nodded. "It's just... a lot," she said. "A lot to take in. Flavours. Smells. Everything."

"You take your time," he said with a small sad smile that creased up his face. She knew he must know her well, because no one could look that sad about a stranger, and it made her sad that she couldn't remember who he was. "If it's too big a portion, you can leave what you can't manage."

Belle nodded, holding the knife and fork carefully, reminding herself how to use them.

In the end, as much as she wanted to finish every bit of food on her plate, her belly complained and she had to put down her fork. Ruby waved away her apologies, smiling, and gathered up the dishes. She and Mr Gold had finished eating long before Belle had.

"Go through to the living room, dear," Mr Gold suggested. "We can have a cup of tea and make some plans."

Belle nodded, getting up. "I-I'm not sure what I'm meant to do," she admitted.

Mr Gold held open the door for her. "You go through and make yourself comfortable. We'll bring some tea through in a moment."

Belle smiled gratefully.

Left to her own devices for a few moments, she wandered around the livingroom. There were grand chairs with high backs and deep seats. There were shelves and trinkets and paintings everywhere. As empty as her hospital room was, Mr Gold's house seemed to be full of everything.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of a wall lined with bookshelves and she hurried over to it. Books, dozens of them, with leather bindings printed with golden names. She remembered books. She remembered loving books. She traced her fingers down the edges - spines - and with trembling fingers drew one of them from the shelf.

The smell of the old pages and dusty leather recalled memories of something she couldn't quite place, and she opened the cover, tracing the letters that made up the name of the book.

Her hands trembled.

She loved books.

She knew she did. 

It was the clearest thought she had in her head, but the letters made no sense to her. She knew they were put together to form words. She knew how to use words. But staring blankly at the page, she couldn't make any sense of the marks printed on the paper.

It was a curse, she remembered, trying to keep her eyes from welling over with tears. Mr Gold and Ruby told her that there was a curse that took away everyone's happiness. She closed the book carefully and slid it back onto the shelf, and put her hands over her face. 

"Belle?" Mr Gold's voice made her jump.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

Belle looked around at them. Her eyes were stinging and her cheeks were hot and wet. It was stupid to be so upset over something so simple, but she couldn't help it. She loved words. She loved books. They made her happy and now, she couldn't look at them or understand them. 

Ruby rushed to her side, wrapping her arms around her like she mattered. "What is it, sweetie? What happened?"

Mr Gold motioned them over to the couch and Belle sank to sit. He knelt down on the floor beside her. "Did you remember something?"

Belle shook her head. "I can't read," she whispered, looking at him. "I-I know I could, but I can't remember how."

The breath hissed between his teeth, and he was angry about it, but he wasn't angry with her. "Oh, sweetheart," he breathed out, lifting a hand to stroke her hair soothingly. "Don't worry. We'll set this right."

"And until then, I can teach you to read again," Ruby offered, sitting on Belle's other side. "It'll come back to you in no time." 

Belle nodded, wiping at her eyes with her fingers.

Mr Gold took his kerchief from his pocket, drying her eyes and pressing the silk square into her hand. He turned sharply when someone knocked at the door, and looked at Ruby, who nodded, scrambling to her feet. Mr Gold got up, placing himself between Belle and the door. He was protecting her, she thought, twisting the handkerchief between her fingers. Just like he said he would.

"Granny asked me to bring you some clothes by."

Belle recognised the man's voice. He was the man who had helped her from the cart in the mines.

Mr Gold sat down beside her. "Not to worry," he said. "He's harmless."

The man approached, followed by Ruby, who was holding a canvas bag. "Hey," he said, meeting Belle's eyes. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled shakily. "Warm. And I had food."

He sat down in one of the arm chairs, gazing at her. "We could find you somewhere else to stay, if you would prefer. Granny says there's room with her and Ruby."

Belle shook her head. Jefferson told her that Mr Gold would protect her, and he was protecting her. He had found her in the mines, even though she didn't know how she got there. He put himself in front of her when there was someone she didn't know and might be scared of.

"I want to stay with him," she said. "Jefferson said Mr Gold will protect me. Mr Gold said he would too. I believe him."

The man looked at Mr Gold, with a stern look on his face. "If you put a foot wrong, Gold..."

"You don't need to warn me, dearie," Mr Gold said tersely. "I thought I'd lost her twice now. I'm not going to make the same mistake again."

"Ruby..."

"Don't worry," Ruby said. "I'll be here too."

Belle looked from one face to another. Mr Gold looked tired and sad and angry. Ruby looked determined. The other man looked grave. She felt like she was adrift in a sea that was full of dangers and strangeness, and all she knew was that Mr Gold had seen her face in his shop, looked so shocked, and he had embraced her like he knew her and like she meant something.

She moved her hand, clasping his fingers. Mr Gold's hand trembled, but he squeezed hers warmly, turning his face to her. 

"I'm tired," she said in a small voice. "Can I go to bed?"

"Of course, sweetheart," he said. He looked up at Ruby. "Can you help her?"

Ruby nodded, hurrying over. "Do you want me to bring up the tea?" she asked.

Belle shook her head. "I... my head... it's all so much at once."

Ruby slipped her arm through Belle's. "Things'll look better after some rest," she said. She looked from Mr Gold to the other man. "You two are going to be okay?"

"Don't you worry, dearie," Mr Gold said. "We can be civilised." He looked up at Belle. "If you need anything, you need only ask."

She nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. 

She let Ruby lead the way back upstairs to the bedroom that was linked to the bathroom she had used. It was a series of rooms, a little sitting room with a fireplace, a big bedroom and then the bathroom. It was all grand and beautiful and so big.

"How are you holding up?" Ruby asked, as Belle sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know," Belle said, looking down at her hands.

Ruby sat down beside her, taking her hand. "You'll be okay," she said. "Mr Gold - Rumpelstiltskin - he's really powerful. He'll find a way to bring your memories back."

"With magic," Belle said, looking at Ruby's hand on hers. "It's all real?"

Ruby nodded. "I know it all sounds crazy, but it's real," she said. "Curses and magic and true love and the world we left behind."

"Did..." Belle looked up at her. "Did I know you there?"

Ruby shook her head. "We must have been in different parts of the world," she said. "But we're friends now."

Belle felt her eyes prick with tears. "I wish I could remember," she said softly. "I don't know why Mr Gold looks so sad when he looks at me." She looked at Ruby. "The man who let me out of the hospital, he told me to find Mr Gold, that he would protect me. I-I found him, and he saw me and he said I was alive, as if he didn't know. Did he think I was dead?"

Ruby bit her lip. "I don't know," she said. "But I know he's not lying about protecting you. He wants to be sure you're safe, more than anything right now."

Belle used his handkerchief to dab at her eyes. "I feel safe here," she said. "Everything is so strange, but I know he won't let anyone hurt me."

Ruby nodded. "He'll do his best," she said. "C'mon. You should get some sleep."

Belle grabbed her hand. "W-will you stay?" she asked. "Please, will you stay with me?"

"Sleep by you?" Ruby asked, looking at her with concern.

Belle nodded. "I've been on my own for so long," she said, her voice shaking. "I-I don't want to take up alone again. Not in a strange place."

"Of course," Ruby assured her, wrapping Belle up in her arms. "I'm here to look after you, Belle. I'll stay with you."

Belle touched Ruby's forearm with light, trembling fingers. "I don't want to wake up there again," she whispered against the other girl's shoulder. "All padded walls and locked doors and only a square of a face looking in at me." She shuddered. "It was cold there. It was always cold."

"Do you know who was looking in?" Ruby asked, her voice hushed.

Belle shook her head. "Jefferson said Regina, but she never said anything to me. She just looked in and smiled." Her fingers tightened on Ruby's arm. "I don't want to go back."

"You won't," Ruby said fiercely. "I won't let anyone lock you away again." She tilted Belle's face up. "We're going to protect you." She smiled, her eyes gleaming. "No one messes with Rumpelstiltskin or the big bad wolf."

Belle's lips trembled and she nodded. "You'll keep me safe," she said. 

"Your own guardian monsters," Ruby said. She unwound her arms from around Belle. "Now, there's a toothbrush in the bathroom. You can clean your teeth and wash up. I'll get changed into something to sleep in."

By the time she finished in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, Ruby had drawn back the covers and pulled the curtains closed. The other girl was wearing a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt, and her long hair was braided down her back.

"You pick a side," she said. "I'll go and take my face off." Belle must have blanched, because Ruby laughed. "Not my actual face," she said. "Just the make-up." She waved towards the colour around her eyes and lips. "I don't leave it on if I want my pillows to stay their regular colour."

"Oh." Belle smiled uncertainly. "Okay." 

Ruby smiled at her, and headed for the bathroom. Belle padded towards the bed and slipped her feet out of the slippers, then shed the dressing gown, draping it over the end of the bed. The bed was so much softer than she expected, the sheets smooth and the blankets thick and warm. 

Belle pulled the blanket up to her chin, curling onto her side and resting her head on the pillow. She was free. She was outside of her cell. She was warm and safe and protected and no one was watching her through a little hatch in a metal door. She might have nothing but that, but that was better than what she had been left with in the cell.

Her eyes ran over the dark fabric of the curtain, the warm pink of the walls, the textures of the carpet on the wooden floor, the smell of lavender. She curled her fingers against the sheets and blankets, feeling warmth all around her, and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Do you want to leave the lamp on?" Ruby asked softly, when she lifted the blankets to slip into the bed beside her moments later.

Belle nodded mutely. Her throat felt like it was closed up, and her eyes were wet again. She knew if she tried to speak, the words would have failed her.

Ruby curled behind her, stroking her hand along Belle's arm. "It's okay," she whispered. "I'm here." She gently petted Belle's hair, smoothing it. "You can hold onto me if you need to."

Belle stifled a small, distressed sound and turned over, clinging on to Ruby. She felt Ruby's hands in her hair, stroking down over her neck and shoulders, letting her burrow closer. She was shaking so hard, and it was silly, because she was in a good place now, somewhere with people and words and warmth, and all she could think was that it was all too big, too much and too frightening. 

Ruby murmured meaningless nonsense to her, stroking her hair over and over, and letting Belle cling tightly on to her. Belle didn't want to be crying, but she couldn't stop it, and Ruby murmured it was okay, it was fine to let it all out, she didn't need to be scared.

It felt like everything had built up behind a wall, all the years of being closed away, locked up tight, and knowing someone had done it to her on purpose, someone had taken her mind, and taken it all away. It hurt and scared her, and now, the whole world was big and wide and dangerous and she didn't know what to do. 

It was a long time before the tears stopped, and she shivered in Ruby's arms. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," Ruby murmured, drawing Belle's head to rest on her shoulder. "You've been hurt by bad people. You're allowed to be upset."

Belle's fingers tugged at Ruby's t-shirt. "It'll get better, won't it?" she asked in a shaking voice. "I'll get better?"

Ruby nodded, ruffling Belle's hair with her chin. "Mr Gold'll find a way," she said. "When he wants something, no one can stop it."

Belle stared blindly across the room. The bedside lamp cast a soft golden glow over the whole room. It was warm and she felt so very tired. "I hope he can," she whispered. "I don't want to feel like this forever. "

"One day at a time," Ruby whispered against her hair. "Close your eyes. Get some sleep. Things'll look better in the morning."

Belle closed her eyes, curling her fingers into Ruby's shirt. "I hope so," she whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

"I won't hurt her."

Those were the first words out of Rumpelstiltskin's mouth as soon as the girls were out of sight. James steepled his hands in front of him and looked at the man who had been both aide and enemy, friend and foe. "You can understand why I would find that hard to believe," he said. "Especially after some of the stories I've heard today."

Rumpelstiltskin - Mr Gold - nodded. "Quite so," he murmured.

James folded his hands together. He remembered a conversation years before, the brief moment that an imp's mask had dropped to show such very human grief. That same expression was even more visible now on Rumpelstiltskin's face, without the dark magic corrupting the human features.

He tried to imagine what it would be like if Snow forgot who she was, was only Mary Margaret again, a blank, bland version of the woman he loved, lacking the confidence and conviction and everything that made her Snow. Mary Margaret was a good person, but she wasn't Snow. 

"Ruby's going to stay here," he said finally. "Granny said that she'll look after your girl."

Gold nodded again. His fingertips toyed with the handle of his cane. "If your dwarves find anything in the mines," he said, "let me know. If I can find a cure for her, then maybe it'll be something that can break the walls around Storybrooke too."

"What's the price?" James asked.

Gold looked back at him, drawn and exhausted. "The price is giving her back her memories." He rose abruptly, turning his back on James to walk over to the bookshelves. He touched the spines of the books lightly. "If Henry needs someone to speak to, in Miss Swan's absence, I think he may provide some comfort for her."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" James asked, thinking of all the troubled people Henry had already been dealing with.

Gold looked over his shoulder. "He's the one boy in this town who has dealt with people with no memories of who they are," he said. "He's dealt with it his whole life, and right now, Belle needs someone who isn't struggling to find themselves as well."

"You seem to be coping with the change better than most," James observed quietly. 

"Seem. Yes." Gold rested his hand on the shelf. "Seem is an apt word."

James watched him for a moment. "You were going to leave town," he said. "Before we found out about the line. You were packing. Where were you going?"

Gold lowered his hand from the shelf. "We made a deal that day, if you recall," he said without turning. 

"Yeah," James said, "which was broken when you came knocking on my door, asking for my help."

Gold's shoulders slumped, but he still didn't turn. He looked ten times his age. "It's personal," he said quietly, "and presently, it's impossible, which renders it irrelevant."

"Maybe I can help."

Gold laughed, a strange, pained sound. "Your daughter said the same once," he said. He finally looked at James. "Help me to get Belle back. That's what you can do. Anything to do with the world beyond the barrier..." He shook his head. "Just help Belle."

"Does she know anyone else in this world?" James said, rising. "Is there anyone we can call? A friend? Any other family?"

Gold's face crumpled like paper. "No," he said. "Regina didn't even give her that."

James stared at him in horror. "Not even family?"

Gold shook his head. "She can't even remember how to read," he said, his voice flat. "She was kept alive to be killed when the right moment came. You don't need memories if your sole purpose is waiting to be a corpse."

James had to turn away, his stomach twisting horribly. "God..."

"She doesn't know," Gold said quietly. "Belle. It was bad enough for her knowing she was abducted. She doesn't need to know what her fate would have been."

James nodded. "Regina must really hate you," he said.

Gold looked down at his hand resting on his cane. "You could say that," he said. He met James's eyes. "Will you let Henry come by? For Belle's sake?"

James nodded. "God knows he wants to help," he said. "At least this way, I'll know he's not running off into the mines himself." He looked Gold up and down. The man looked wrung dry. "Is there anything you're going to need? Anything we can do?"

Gold looked at him, lost. "I don't have anything you want."

"You don't have to make everything a deal, Gold," James said. "We're a community. We help each other when we need it. Right now, you and Belle need it."

Gold looked down at his cane. "You've no reason."

"I have every reason," James replied. "I might be the only person in town who can understand exactly what you're going through, remember?"

"This isn't the same," Gold said quietly. "She isn't lost."

"No," James said, "but that's not what I meant. You gave Snow a potion once."

"Ah." Gold lifted his head. "Yes." His lips trembled. "Unfortunately, true love's kiss won't work in this case."

"It didn't then, either."

For a moment, Gold looked confused. "But she remembered."

James smiled crookedly. "Not before she shot me," he said, "with that bow you gave her. I've got quite a collection of scars from that delicate little Princess of mine."

"It always finds its target," Gold murmured, one side of his mouth twitching.

"If you love this girl, don't let her forget it," James said. "Not even if she can't remember who you are. You've got a chance to make up for whatever it was you screwed up." He noticed the other man didn't argue with that assessment. "You take good care of her, okay?"

Gold nodded. "I can't lose her again," he said, in a frail voice. 

James didn’t know why he did it, but he reached out and squeezed Gold’s shoulder. The man flinched from him, as if he expected to be struck, and for the first time, beneath the monster, James could see that there had once been a man.

“You won’t lose her,” he said as gently as he could. “Not as long as she’s right here.” He released Gold’s shoulder. “I have to get back to Henry. Don’t start on magic right away, not when you need a clear head.”

“You know about magic, do you, dearie?” There was a little bite there, but not much.

James looked back at him. “I know what it feels like to have your heart broken,” he said. “It can make you do stupid things. Regina told me that.” He glanced towards the stairs. “Get some rest. You can start trying to help her after she’s slept. She’ll need it.”

Gold was motionless as a statue, but finally inclined his head. “I can’t make any promises.”

“And I didn’t ask for any,” James said. “I’ll bring Henry around tomorrow, after school.”

“Good.” Gold lowered his eyes. “Good evening, Mr Nolan.”

James knew it was a less than subtle cue for him to leave.

Still, he had to stop on the step and breathe in deeply to shake off the sick feeling that had settled in his gut. Even if he hated Gold - which he wasn’t even sure he did anymore: distrusted and disliked, true, but pity was rising up the ranks quickly too - he would have brought Henry. The girl needed all the friends she could get.

 

_________________________________________________

 

“Who is she?”

“Her name’s Belle.”

Henry made an impatient sound. “I know that,” he said, “but who is she? In your world? Which story is she from?”

James closed the car door behind his grandson and crouched down. “That doesn’t matter right now,” he said seriously. “All she knows is that she’s been locked in a hospital for a long time, and she doesn’t remember anything about that land.”

“But she’s with Rumpelstiltskin, right? Mr Gold? So that means she could be part…”

“Henry.” James took the boy by the shoulders. “Listen to me. Don’t ask her about it, and don’t ask Mr Gold. He won’t tell you anything. You just need to remember that she’s scared and doesn’t remember anyone. Can you do that? Can you be kind to her?”

Henry nodded at once, wide-eyed. Sometimes, he looked so very much like Snow at her most earnest that it hurt. “What do I call her?”

“You can ask her what she’d prefer,” James said, squeezing Henry’s shoulder and rising. 

“And Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t mind us coming to his house?”

James couldn’t help a brief, tired smile. “Not as long as you’re here to help her.”

Henry looked up at the house. “Do you think my mom made the house pink to bug him?”

“I think so,” James said with a laugh. “It would be just the thing she would do, wouldn’t it?”

They made their way up the steps, and James wasn’t surprised when Ruby met them at the door, opening it just wide enough to let them in. 

“They’re in the living room,” she said, with a smile for Henry. She pointed through the doorway. “Why not go introduce yourself?”

The boy beamed and hurried in.

“How is she?” James asked in a low voice.

“Nightmares,” Ruby replied quietly. “Nothing specific she could tell me, but she woke at least four times.”

"Did you keep a light on?"

Ruby nodded. "It didn't help," she said. "She said they gave her pills in the hospital. We don't know what they were but it sounds like they kept her sedated half the time and she was left in solitary the rest. She had a panic attack because she woke up in a strange place."

James closed his eyes. "This isn't going to be an easy road for anyone," he said. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "How are you holding up?"

She slipped her hands into her pockets, rocking on the balls of her feet. "I know it's not good, but this has put my problems into perspective," she admitted quietly. She tilted her head slightly, then stepped to one side a second before Gold joined them in the hall. 

James looked the man over. He was unshaven and there were shadows around his eyes. "You didn't sleep, did you?"

Gold returned his gaze blankly. "What did you expect me to do? Sit by and wait?"

"You're not going to be of use to anyone if you don't get some rest."

"Like you?" Gold challenged. "Don't think your search for a portal has gone unnoticed, dearie."

James sighed. "Point," he said. "Did you have any luck?"

Gold shook his head. "I need to practise more with magic before I can do more. It's... different here." He jerked his head. "Come in. We don't want her worrying needlessly."

"Too late for that," Ruby said quietly. Gold's expression tightened, but he didn't disagree.

James followed them into the living room, and was pleased to see Henry was perched on the couch beside Belle. The girl looked as pale and drawn as Gold did, but she was smiling. Henry had his book open, and James could hear his grandson reading to her.

"An interesting tale, sweetheart?" Gold asked, approaching and sitting down on the chair closest to her. 

She nodded, looking up at James. "Henry says this book has your stories in it," she said, toying with the end of the pullover she was wearing. It wasn't anything Ruby would wear, so he could only assume it was another of Gold's, and instead of a dress, she was wearing jeans and fluffy socks. 

"Some version of the stories," James said. "Not all of them."

"There are too many people in Storybrooke to have all their stories," Henry agreed. He was leaning against Belle's arm and they were both holding the book up together. He shot a look at Gold, who looked back placidly at him, but didn't ask to James's relief.

"Can you read some more for me?" Belle asked tentatively.

Henry's smile lit up his face. "Sure!" he said.

In the end, Ruby invited them to stay for dinner, although Gold looked like he would rather swallow nails. Belle's smile, however, seemed to change his mind. She had listened to Henry's stories until his voice was hoarse, and even asked questions about the people, as if trying to make a connection with someone she might know.

"If you want," Henry suggested over a plate of stew, "we can go to the park?"

Belle paled. "Outside?"

"It might do you good," Gold murmured. "Fresh air, trees, flowers." A fleeting smile crossed his lips. "You don't want to be cooped up here forever." There was something about the way he said it, a sadness in his smile, as if he was making a joke no one else could understand. 

"You'd have company," Ruby said. "Me and Henry. James could come too."

"That wouldn't be a problem," James agreed. 

Belle looked at Gold. "And you?" she asked. "Would you come?"

Gold looked warily at James, then at Ruby, before turning his attention back to Belle. "If you want me there," he said, "I'll be there."

When she smiled, it brightened her face. "I do."

Gold's expression softened, and for a moment, he looked like a different man. "Then I'll be there," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

Belle wasn't herself. 

Even if Regina had not crafted a false persona for her, she wasn't herself.

Day by day, it was more and more apparent to Rumpelstiltskin, even if no one else could tell. 

Belle was always curious, exploring, fascinated with everything around her. She asked the questions no one else would ask, and stepped into a monster's personal space, unafraid and eager to learn. This Belle was none of those things. She regarded the world with wariness. She was withdrawn, quiet, only spoke if questioned. 

Sometimes, he found her sitting at the table while Ruby cooked, simply staring at her hands.

Twenty-eight years in the asylum with nothing but her own thoughts for company had turned the bright, smiling, warm-hearted girl inwards, and more than anything, he wanted to draw her back out. 

He wasn't a people person.

That was common knowledge.

He understood people, could turn them on themselves, could twist them up and ruin them, but this was something different. He had never needed to put someone together again.

There was the matter of the line to contend with too, but he had a suspicion that if he could undo what had been done to Belle by crossing the boundary, the magic that maintained the line would become clear as well. When he could see it, he could unravel it from the inside. 

All the same, he wasn't able to just leave her with the wolf, as much for himself as for her. She looked to him for protection, and when she ventured out, even in the company of Henry, the wolf and the Prince, she wanted him to be there. Mr Gold will protect you. That was what she had been told, and that was what she believed. Even if it was his part in her life that had led to her being thrown down the mine by her father, she still believed he would protect her, and he was determined not to break that trust again.

If that meant letting her - and Lucas - follow him down to the basement to work, then so be it.

The Prince had told him honesty was the way to make a relationship work, and that was what he had kept from her for too long. He owed her a story, from a deal made so long ago. She didn't know it, but that didn't meant it wasn't important.

He let them explore the basement with the warning not to touch. 

For the first time, Belle seemed fascinated. 

She looked at the tiny shelves with their bottles powers, the different alchemical potions and powders while he worked at his wheel. The wolf was equally interested, examining everything she came across. Near the workbench, she sniffed too hard, then looked affronted when she sneezed violently.

"...the hell?" she demanded between sneezes.

Rumpelstiltskin glanced at her. "Wolfsbane, dearie," he said with false innocence. "You might need some air."

Perhaps it was a dirty trick, but she never left him alone with Belle, and more than anything, he needed to speak to Belle privately, without a pair of lupine ears waiting to report everything he said back to the Prince. Ruby glowered at him and fled up into the cool evening. 

Belle approached him at the wheel, drawing up a box opposite and sitting down to watch him.

The thread caught between his fingers, halfway between straw and gold, but he steadied himself, watched her through the spokes as the wheel turned.

"How do you do that?" she asked finally.

"Spin, love?"

She shook her head, pointing to the gold thread. "How does it work?"

He looked at the thread, running a strand of the silky metal between his fingers. "You know, I really don't know," he said with a small smile. "Magic?"

She propped her forearms on her knees, watching the point where straw became gold attentively. There was no visible transition, but dull yellow suddenly gleamed. He broke a piece off, holding it out to her, and she took it, carefully avoiding touching his fingers. That hurt as much as the lack of recognition in her eyes. She let him touch her, but she didn't touch him.

He started turning the wheel again, letting the magic flow smooth and steady. This was where his magic was at its purest, where the familiar repetition of turning, turning, turning, let him gather his energies. Magic was different in this world, and if he had to work to focus it, to find a way through the barrier, he would spin until his fingers were bloody.

The wooden joists creaked and rumbled softly, and the straw whispered into thread and into gold.

"Why do you spin so much?"

Rumpelstiltskin's hands faltered on the wheel and thread. His heart was pounding faster and he raised his eyes to her. For a moment, he almost hoped Belle would be looking back at him with that teasing gleam in her eyes. But she wasn't. There was curiosity, but nothing more. "Why do you ask?" he said quietly.

She was turning the piece of gold thread over and over in her hands, watching him. "You've spun so much gold already," she said, nodding towards the pile that had built up over five nights with barely any sleep. 

The words rose to his lips without thought. "I like to watch the wheel," he said, looking at his hand where it was resting on the rim of the wheel. "It helps me forget."

"Forget what?" she asked, tilting her head to catch his eyes.

He looked up at her, and said so quietly that he could barely hear his own voice, "I guess it worked."

She laughed, as she had then, and Rumpelstiltskin had to close his eyes against the memories. They flew open again when her fingers brushed his on the wheel. She drew back, as if she thought she had done something wrong, but there was concern on her face.

"You look sad," she said cautiously.

He lowered his eyes and started to turn the wheel again. "I want you to be well," he said quietly.

She watched the wheel. "Is that why you really spin?" she asked. "You don't want to forget. You're upset because I've forgotten."

He gazed at her, then nodded. He rose from the wheel, crossing the floor to one of the many chests and cases. He knelt stiffly, opening the catch, and withdrew a fragile piece of parchment, worn and faded with age. He had preserved it as best he could, but there were limits to what his magic could do after so many years. 

"Would you come here, sweetheart?" he asked quietly, laying the parchment on the desk. It was the only thing he had kept that belonged to Milah, and even then, he would have burned it if it had not been the only image he had of his son. Their son. 

"Who's that?" Belle asked, coming alongside him.

Rumpelstiltskin looked down at the drawing. "That's my son," he said. "He was the reason I needed magic." He looked at her. "Now, I need it for you too."

Belle touched the edge of the parchment. "You didn't say anything about him when you told me how we knew each other," she said, frowning. "Why not?"

"Because I've never told anyone about him," Rumpelstiltskin said. "I lost him, a long time ago." He looked at Belle. His heart was racing, but he remembered honesty. The Prince said that was the key to a relationship, and all Belle had asked of him was honesty. "You don't remember now, but I owed you that story." He took a breath, his hands resting on the edge of the table. "He was lost from our world to this world. This curse, it brought us here, and I needed magic to be able to find him."

"And the line," she said quietly, "the line that took my memories away. You can't go across it either, can you?"

He shook his head. "If I can find a way to bring your memories back, then maybe I can find a way for us all to be able to cross the line safely." He looked down at the drawing of Bae, when he was so young, so long ago. "Maybe then, I can find him."

Belle moved a little closer to him and covered his hand with hers, her fingers soft and warm. "Can I help?" she asked quietly. "Can you use me to find a way to get this line broken?"

He looked at her, his brave girl. "I don't know," he said honestly, "but we can try."

 

__________________________________________________________

 

Little changes were happening.

Belle's memories weren't returning, and there had been little progress with the magic, but that wasn't unexpected.

The changes were more personal. When she looked at him now, there was a shyness to her smile, and sometimes, when they all sat in the living room for tea, she would sit beside him. What time he was not spending on magic, he spent with her and their chaperone.

Sometimes, he could swear he saw the wolf trying not to smile as she watched them.

She cornered him one evening, when they were tidying up after dinner. "You hurt her," she said sweetly, pinning him between herself and the counter, her hands on either side of him, "and I'll hurt you."

He looked at her indignantly. "What brought this on, dearie?"

"She didn't really care before," she said, baring those white teeth of hers. "Now, she's starting to, and if you hurt her again, I'll show you how bad I can be without my cloak."

While part of him wanted to smirk at her for her presumption, the greater part was relieved that Belle had a friend who was so loyal and could be so dangerous if anyone threatened her. Given Belle's association with him, he had feared she would be turned away and rejected.

It seemed that was not to be the case.

"I have no intention of hurting her," he said.

"Intent means nothing," Ruby said, leaning closer to him. "I didn't intend to hurt anyone, remember? If you do it by accident or on purpose, the result will be the same."

He looked her in the eye. "Thank you," he said.

She raised her eyebrows, drawing back. "Thank you?"

"For caring about her enough to threaten someone much more powerful than you."

Ruby snorted, turning her attention to the dishes. "You're not as frightening as you like to think you are," she said.

"Believe me, dearie," he murmured, "if I was being frightening, you would know it."

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing you're going back down to your hole, since Belle's gone for her bath?"

"I have no other reason to delay," he said. He offered a sparing smile. "If you don't mind."

She made a face at him, which he took as dismissal, as he made his way towards the back door.

Some four hours later, he made his way back up the steps, parched and exhausted. Coffee was necessary on occasion, but he paused at the back door when he spotted a pale shape in the darkness of the kitchen. 

Belle was sitting at the kitchen counter, a cup of tea forgotten in front of her, her head buried in her hands. Even from a distance, he could see her shoulders were shaking. He opened the door as quietly as he could, and stepped into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

She lifted her head, startled, and he could see the tears on her face. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming in."

"I'm glad I did," he said, approaching her cautiously. "Another nightmare?"

She shook her head, brushing the tears from her cheeks with her trembling hands. "No," she said, trying to smile, but it barely managed to twitch her lips. "I'm just being silly."

Rumpelstiltskin drew his handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. "Given all that you've been through, I find that hard to believe," he said quietly. He watched her dry her eyes, wanting more than anything to embrace her and comfort her. "I know this must be very difficult for you."

She looked down at the tears staining the handkerchief. "Everyone is being so kind," she whispered. "It feels like I'm taking advantage of all of you."

"Nonsense," he said, more abruptly than he meant to. "If I didn't want to help you, you can be damned sure I wouldn't."

Belle gave a small hiccough that might have been a laugh. "That's what Ruby says. That you're a..." She was blushing at the thought of being rude. "Grumpy son of a bitch?"

Rumpelstiltskin snorted. "That girl has no idea what she's talking about," he said, but he could see the hesitant beginnings of a smile touch her lips when he added, "I'm not the least bit grumpy." He reached over and took her cup. "I'll make us a fresh pot. It seems that we both need it."

Belle watched him as he moved around the kitchen, fetching the tea and refilling the kettle.

"Have you had any luck?" she asked quietly. 

He paused, spoon in the loose leaf tea. "No," he said finally. "I'm afraid not, love."

It was tempting to pretend not to hear the stifled sound of distress, but he was trying, trying so hard, not to be a coward. He turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "I know I'm just a stranger to you," he said quietly. "But if you need someone to hold onto to..."

She looked at him, her blue eyes turned silver by the moonlight. "Please," she whispered, tears streaking her cheeks. 

He moved towards her, as she slid off the stool, and they collided in the space between. Her arms were tight around his middle, and he dropped his cane to wrap his arms around her, her hair warm and soft and fragrant against his cheek. He curled his fingers into the dark waves, his thumb grazing the nape of her neck.

"I'm scared," she whispered, her breath hot against his neck. 

"I know, sweetheart," he murmured, "but I'm going to fix this. I just need you to be brave a little bit longer."

She drew back enough to look him in the face. “For your son?”

His lips trembled and he touched her cheek gently. “And for you,” he said, his voice breaking. “Both of you.”

She buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to him, and he barely heard the whisper of, “Thank you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Child of the Moon

It had been a rough week.

Wolfstime had come, and Billy...

Ruby tried not to think of Billy. Of Gus. 

Things had been looking up, with fairy dust uncovered in the mines, and then the moon rose, and accusations were levelled at her, and she almost ran. She would have too, if it hadn't been for Belle. She tried to explain to the girl what had happened, why she had to leave, but Belle had taken her hands and held them tight.

"You're not a monster," she had said. "Please. Let us help."

Ruby tried to smile and pretend that she wasn't the monster she knew herself to be. Even when Belle dragged her to Gold, she pretended that they could make things better. There was little he could do, with her cloak missing, but he took her aside and reminded her in quiet, calm tones that as she had told him, she had the choice. She had controlled the animal before. She could do it again. She was strong enough to do that. 

It was... comforting, to know that he had listened, and that he believed in her as much as James did, but she still waited until Belle went to the bathroom, then walked out into the night and let the moonlight wash over her. 

In the end, her cloak was found and her innocence was proven, but that didn't change the fact that Billy was dead. It wasn't by her hand, but it was someone she had known, someone she had liked, someone who had liked her despite knowing what she was in the Enchanted forest. Someone else torn apart because they dallied with a wolf. 

For once, she was the one having nightmares instead of Belle, as she slept after running free throughout the second night. 

It was strange how the old nightmares were the first ones to come back.

She could walk tall when they went out in town, knowing this time she was innocent and that she had control of who and what she was, but that didn't change the fact that the when she closed her eyes, she woke screaming. 

Gold didn't want her sleeping in with Belle anymore, knowing how troubled the other woman's sleep was already, but when he said so, Belle turned on him with a ferocity that earned a weak smile from Ruby and a stronger one from Gold himself. No one decided where she slept but her, she informed him, jabbing his chest with a fingertip, or who she slept beside.

There was something in her words that made Gold's expression turn soft. 

It still weirded Ruby out, seeing him smile, seeing him look at someone like he gave a damn. It wasn't that he was all that different. He was still sarcastic and mocking, but Belle was coming out of her shell and giving as good as she got, earning more of those rare, careful smiles. Ruby wondered if either of them had even noticed that they sparked off one another like flint.

All the same, the final night of wolfstime came and Belle stubbornly refused to let Ruby leave the room or sleep anywhere else, even when Ruby warned her of the beast she might become.

"You're still Ruby," she said firmly. "No matter what you look like."

Ruby hugged her tightly. "You have to meet Snow," she said. "You remind me of her. She wasn't afraid of me either."

"Why would I be afraid of you?" Belle said, tugging on Ruby's braid. "You're my friend."

When she turned, Ruby expected that to change, but Belle exclaimed in wonder, stroking her fur and rubbing between her ears. It was the first time that anyone had touched her as the wolf, and she nuzzled at Belle's shoulder. Her tail was wagging, and she looked at it in annoyance, as if it had betrayed it.

"Don't worry," Belle whispered. "I'm happy too."

They curled up together in a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor to make room for them both, and Ruby drifted to sleep with Belle's head pillowed on her ribs, the other woman's fingers carding gently through her fur. The nightmares stayed away, no horror of blood and screaming, only the safety and security of her chosen pack, and when she woke, Belle was watching her, still gently stroking her fur.

She shivered as the change came over her and she pushed herself up on her elbows. "Did... did you sleep?"

Belle smiled drowsily. "A little while," she said, "you were having a dream. I woke up. Petted you. I think it helped."

Ruby nodded. "It did," she said quietly. "No bad dreams."

"Good," Belle said, squeezing Ruby's hand. "That's good." She got to her feet, reaching for her dressing gown. "We should have breakfast. You must be starving." She offered Ruby a quick smile. "You've hardly eaten anything in the last three days. We should have something sweet. As a treat."

"Pancakes," Ruby said at once. "We'll have pancakes."

They were in the kitchen, fighting over the skillet, when Mr Gold came into the room. The table was already set, tea brewing in the pot, but there wasn't a single pancake made. He glanced between them both.

"A good night's rest?" he asked.

Belle nodded, lifting a floury hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Very," she said.

"And I see you restrained yourself from making her into a chew toy?" Mr Gold said, looking at Ruby, who felt herself blush. He liked to nudge her verbally, as much as he teased Belle, and she wasn't about to let him get the better of her. 

"I thought it was kind of forward," she replied. "Biting is for the second full moon. I'll stick with nuzzling for now."

She had a feeling he would have laughed, if he had been that kind of man, especially when Belle blushed too. Instead, he barely smiled, and approached them at the counter. "Breakfast?"

"We were going to make pancakes," Ruby replied as Belle triumphantly stole the skillet and took charge of the pan. "But little Miss Adventurous decided that round pancakes were too mainstream." She leaned over Belle's shoulder. "Flip it now."

Belle frowned in concentration, then flipped the would-be pancake. "It worked!"

Mr Gold peered into the pan. "Is that..."

"A spinning wheel!" Belle said, beaming at him. "I was going to put maple syrup on it too, to look like gold." 

"Very creative, sweetheart," he said. 

Ruby propped her arm on the counter, looking at him in amusement as Belle hurried off to fetch a plate and the syrup. "You're doing the face," she said. 

Mr Gold frowned. "The face?"

"You know." She did her best doe-eyed, love-struck expression. "That face."

Mr Gold, Rumpelstiltskin, Terror of the Forest, Scourge of Storybrooke, blushed like a schoolboy. He looked down at his hands on his cane awkwardly.

Ruby took pity on him. He had offered her shelter, even when no one could be sure she hadn't killed someone, and for a man commonly known as a monster, it was a kindness she hadn't expected. "I need to go catch up with Granny tonight," she said. "How about I make you a meal, and you and Belle have some time alone?"

He looked at her in astonishment. "Really?"

She shrugged with a small smile. "If she can handle me as a beast," she said, "I'm pretty sure she can manage to keep you in check." She nudged Belle as the girl returned, carrying the plate and the spinning-wheel, drizzled all over with syrup. "How about it, Belle? Would you like a romantic candlelit dinner with Mr Gold?"

Belle's blush returned full force and she almost dropped the plate. "Um."

Ruby grinned. "I think if my Belle-to-world translator is working right, that means 'yes, I would love to'," she said.

"Would you, sweetheart?" Mr Gold looked so terrified that she would say no that Ruby almost regretted joking about it.

Belle set the plate down and then smiled tentatively. "I would," she confessed in a whisper. She pushed the plate towards the man, who was smiling just as shyly. 

Ruby stepped back. "I'll just go... make pancakes, then," she said, unsurprised when neither of them noticed. 

They managed to migrate to the table as Ruby built a stack of pancakes on a plate, and Belle watched nervously as Mr Gold tried her themed pancake. Even if it had been made from roadkill, Ruby knew he wouldn't have said a thing against it. 

"It's perfect," he said.

Belle beamed at him. 

Ruby hid her smile over the griddle. 

 

______________________________________________________________

 

"Do I look okay?"

Ruby sat back critically and tilted her head. Belle was standing nervously in front of a mirror, examining herself and the dress she had donned. "You know, you could wear a bag on your head and he'd think you were the most beautiful person in the room."

"You don't know that," Belle protested, blushing. 

"You're kidding, right?"

Belle looked at her. "Really?"

Ruby pushed herself to her feet, smiling. "I'm not his biggest fan, I'll admit," she said, smoothing the straps of Belle's dress. It was a modest, pretty little thing, printed with flowers. "But that man would walk through fire for you." She squeezed Belle's shoulders. "If you don't want me to go, I won't."

Belle was nibbling her lower lip. "I-I'd like to have dinner with him," she said. "I know he knows me, but I don't know him well. I don't think he's himself all the time when people are around. It's like he puts a mask on, like he doesn't want people to see him as he really is."

"You have my cell number, if you change your mind," Ruby said, wrapping her arms around Belle's middle and squeezing her warmly. She propped her chin on Belle's shoulder. "Granny won't mind if I need to come back."

"We'll be fine," Belle said softly. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

Ruby grinned at their reflections in the mirror. "I know he wouldn't," she said. "If he did, he would have a very grumpy wolf to deal with."

Belle nudged her. "No biting!"

Ruby tweaked her side. "No," she said, laughing, "I'll leave that to you!"

"Ruby!" Belle exclaimed, covering her face with both hands.

Ruby nuzzled her shoulder. "Admit it," she said, "you've thought about it."

"Not biting!" Belle protested, giggling.

"Kissing then?" Ruby teased. Belle went a shade redder. "Kissing! I knew it!"

Belle swatted at her arm. "Stop that!"

Ruby chuckled, loosening her arms. "I'd say don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said, "but that's no fun at all."

Belle fiddled with her belt, flustered. "I-I haven't done anything like this before."

Ruby smiled, reaching up to smooth Belle's hair. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm pretty sure it's been a while for him as well, and you already know he likes you." She gave Belle a quick hug. "Just be yourself."

Belle's lips trembled. "I would be, if I could," she said. She tugged at her skirt. "It feels strange, to be doing something like this, when I don't even know who I am. Like I'm playing a part."

"You like him," Ruby said, smiling. "He likes you. You don't really need to play anything."

Belle nodded, her smile surer. "And I have the cell if I need you to come back."

"Which you won't," Ruby said. "You have the meal to have and a movie to watch. You'll be fine and I'll be back by eleven." She drew back. "I have to run for now, but the food is ready and just needs to be taken out of the oven in ten minutes. The red wine is the one to go for, but not too much. It's pretty strong. And don't worry."

Belle smoothed her skirt again. "Okay," she said, breathing deeply. "Okay. You go. Visit your grandma."

Ruby hurried out of the room, grabbing her jacket from the bannister on the way down the stairs.

Gold was waiting at the bottom, looking like a high school kid waiting to pick up his date for prom. "You're sure about this?" he asked. "You trust me?"

"Not much," she admitted, "but with her? I'm starting to." She knocked his shoulder with one hand in passing. "Don't forget to be a gentleman."

He might have formed some kind of snide response if Belle hadn't appeared at the top of the stairs behind her.

Ruby stayed long enough to see the soft, kinda dazed expression slide onto his features and smiled. She knew she wouldn't even need to turn her cellphone on. 

She headed in the direction of the guest house. Granny would be waiting there. The chill in the air, the scent of the coast and the forest washed over her. The night's sleep had helped chase away the worst of her guilt. Belle had helped. Even Gold had helped. 

But Granny was the one who understood best.

The door opened even before she reached it.

Granny looked her up and down, then stepped out onto the terrace and hugged her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently, my brain has decided this story is going to run as an AU for the rest of S2 for the foreseeable. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Dinner went well, Belle thought.

She couldn't actually recall what it was, which was probably a good sign, since she and Mr Gold spent the whole meal talking. It wasn't a deep or meaningful conversation, just silly little things, things she had seen in town, experiments he had done with magic, the new words she had been learning to read all over again. 

He didn't speak to her like she was foolish for forgetting, and when she got up to clear up the dishes, he touched her shoulder lightly. "Don't you worry, love," he said. "I'll take care of it."

"I'd like to do something," she said with gentle reproach. "I'm not helpless."

He gazed at her, then smiled. "You can make the tea, if you're so determined, then," he said. "You were always better at it than I was."

She returned the smile tentatively. "Thank you," she said. 

They circled around one another in the kitchen, almost like dancing, with dishes and cups, and half-laughs when they almost collided with one another. They ended up side by side at the sink, as she filled the kettle, and he gently nudged her.

"You know I don't think you're helpless, don't you?" he said.

She looked at him. "Then why didn't you want me to do anything?"

He laughed ruefully, shaking his head. "I see my attempts at chivalry didn't make themselves clear," he said. He looked at her with another of his small smiles. "I know you're more than capable, but I wanted to make a good impression."

Belle blushed. "Oh."

He chuckled, and it was a warm, genuine sound. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he said. "You're not the first to think I'm trying to keep you in check."

She put the lid back on the kettle and made a face at him. 

"Oh, very mature, I'm sure," he said. There was a glint in his eyes and she knew he was teasing. The faucet was still running, and she stuck her hand under it, flicking water at him. He laughed in protest, grabbing at her wrist. "Don't you dare!"

"I do what I want!" she replied, laughing, and setting down the kettle and dashing water at him with her other hand. She squealed as he released her wrist and caught a handful, tossing it up at her. "Stop that!"

"Turn about is fair play, dearie," he retorted.

Dishes and kettle were forgotten as they fought for control of the sink. They and the floor were soaked by the time she managed to turn the flow of water off. Mr Gold looked like a bedraggled cat, his shirt clinging to him, and she knew she probably didn't look much better. It didn't help that she was caught between him and the sink, and she had never been more aware of the press of ceramic against her back.

His hands were braced on either side of her, to keep him from slipping, and his eyes flicked down. She blushed, knowing that she was breathing heavily, and her dress was clinging to her, and his eyes returned to her face, and she knew that he really wanted to kiss her. She could feel his breath against her water-cooled skin, and she had goosebumps all over. 

It was her choice. 

In that dizzying, breathless, heated moment, it was her choice. 

Her lips trembled in a small smile and she lightly brushed her fingers against his damp sleeve. "I-I should change into something dry," she whispered. Her voice didn't sound like her own. 

"Yes," he said, his voice rasping. "Yes. Good idea."

She moved her fingertips against his sleeve, looking up at him. "You... might need to move."

He looked down at his arm, as if he had forgotten it was there. "Oh. Yes." he lifted his hand from the edge of the sink, and bowed slightly, arm unfolding to the side. "My lady."

She couldn't help smiling, bobbing in a quick curtsey. "Good sir." She made her way towards the door, but paused, glancing back at him. "Can we sit in the living room? When we're both dried off?"

"With a fire to warm up?" he offered.

She nodded with a small, cautious smile. "That would be nice," she said, then darted out across the hall and up the stairs. It took some negotiation to wriggle out of her wet dress, and it felt silly to be putting her pyjamas on so early, but they were warm and her dressing gown was fluffy.

Belle sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling on her socks to warm her toes, then sat up looking at her hands. 

She had touched Mr Gold's arm.

It was true that she had touched his hand once before, but then, he was sad and she didn't understand why. This time was different. This time, the contact had made her heart pound and her knees shake, and that wasn't something she had ever experienced before. She rubbed her fingertips with her thumb.

Ruby was right.

She knew Mr Gold liked her, and she was starting to like him a lot more than she had liked anyone before. 

She glanced at herself in the mirror, wondering what it was he saw in her, wondering who it was he saw. Whoever she was, he obviously loved her a lot. She got up and went to the mirror unpinning her hair and brushing it out. It was damp, and she knew it would end up tangled in messy frizz in no time. Well, if he loved her, he could love her when her hair was fluffy too. 

Belle padded back down the stairs, her feet making no sound. She paused at the doorway into the living room. Mr Gold had moved the daybed just enough so it faced towards the fire, where a blaze was dancing, and she could see he had lit some candles along the mantle as well, switching off all the electric lamps. The tea set was on a small, folding table between the daybed and the fire. 

He was sitting on the daybed, gazing into the flames, a grave, pensive look on his face.

She crept closer.

"Hey."

He looked up, shaken from his reverie, and his smile returned. "Comfortable?" he asked, motioning for her to join him.

"Cosy," she agreed with a small smile. She sat down beside him, pulling her feet up under her, as he leaned forward to pour them both a cup of tea. 

He offered her one of the cups, a smile playing about his lips. "Since you were too helpless to actually finish making it," he said.

Belle wrinkled her nose at him, then took a sip of the honey-laced tea. 

It was strange how easily he could make her feel like laughing. 

For a long time, it felt like she had forgotten how. 

Years of bland grey walls and barred windows and clothes that were drab and dull and plain had left their mark. She needed brightness and warmth and colour and emotions. Emotions were such a treasure now. No more blankness from all the pills she had been fed. No more hollowness from a world of nothing.

He settled back against the back of the daybed, regarding her with that small, quiet smile he sometimes wore when she was the only one around. "I know Miss Lucas had a movie or two in mind, but is there something you would like to do?"

She turned the cup in her hands, the china warm against her skin.

She liked movies, but movies were all moving pictures and no imagination.

She hesitated, biting her lower lip. She stared down at her tea, wondering if it would make her sound like a child.

"Belle?" he said, his voice gentle. "If there's something you would like, don't ever be afraid to ask."

She looked up at him. "Can you read to me?" she asked in a whisper. "Please?"

"Of course," he said at once with that same little smile that was just for her. He rose and approached the bookshelves. "What you would like to hear?" He trailed his fingers along the spines of the books. "Something exciting? Or something mysterious, perhaps?"

"Anything," she replied softly. "Just as long as there are words."

He looked at her solemnly, and she knew he heard what was unsaid: for so long, she had been in a place without words or other people. Whatever he read, it could be nothing more than lists, but it would be so much more than she had been left with for years. 

He returned to her a moment later and sat back down. "This is a classic in this world," he said, taking a drink from his own cup, then setting it down. "Some people would consider it romantic, if that suits."

She looked at him, so patient with her, so generous with his time and never losing his temper. She moved a little closer to him and leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder. She could feel him looking down at her in surprise, but she didn't pull away. He had offered so much in exchange for so little, and she felt safe with him. "It suits," she whispered, tucking her arm through his.

She felt his lips ghost over her hair. "Good," he said softly, then opened the book. 

 

____________________________________________________

 

In the days that followed, Belle felt happy.

Mr Gold was kind and attentive, and she felt like she was being spoiled.

Every time he did something, even a little thing like hand her her coat to go out into town, she could see Ruby grinning over his shoulder. Ruby insisted that she wasn't laughing at them. She insisted that she thought it was really sweet how someone as bad-tempered as Gold could turn all sunshine and roses for her.

Belle noticed that Ruby was letting them be on their own more often, and she was secretly grateful. She didn't know how to ask for that privacy, but Ruby just winked and ran off up the stairs, leaving them to sit together, and work on her reading.

It wasn't as difficult as it could have been.

She remembered the shape of letters, and the sounds of them, but what she needed to learn again was how to put them together and make sense.

Mr Gold was happy to do so, in the time he didn't spend working on the curse that had taken her memories from her.

It was all going too well, too happily. 

It couldn't last.

Ruby had gone to collect some groceries from the store, and Mr Gold was upstairs, fetching something from one of the many rooms on the upper levels, when there was a knock at the front door. Belle was sitting at the table in the dining room, surrounded by notebooks and working on her letters. She looked up.

Mr Gold wouldn't make it all the way down the stairs in time to answer the door.

She plucked up her courage and made her way to the front door, undoing the latch and opening the door.

It felt like her heart stopped in her chest.

Black hair. Black eyes. A red smile that wasn't so red or smiling anymore.

Belle whimpered, backing away from the door, her hands shaking too much to close it.

The woman stared back at her. "Hello," she said.

It was like she had struck a window with a hammer. 

Terror washed in, the memory of metal doors closing, of icy jets of water, of being held down to make her take her medicine. She remembered the hatch, the tiny hatch, the eyes looking in, the smile, watching and mocking, and she knew, she knew, she knew she hated the woman in front of her. 

She fled for the stairs, tripping and knocking her knees halfway up, and sobbing by the time she reached the landing, where she collided with Mr Gold.

"Belle?" he said, catching her arms and holding her. Safe. He was safe. He would protect her. 

She clung onto him, shaking so hard she could barely stand. "She's here," she whispered. She knew she was holding onto him so tight it would leave marks, but he didn't protest, just holding her, his hands stroking her hair and her back soothingly. 

"She?"

She lifted her face to look at him, half-blind with tears of terror. "Her. She's come to take me back."

Mr Gold's face looked like it had been turned to stone. "Regina," he said quietly. He cupped Belle's cheek gently. "Don't worry, love. She's not taking you anywhere." He brushed his thumb along her cheek, sweeping away the first tide of tears. "You go to your room, all right? I'll go and get rid of her."

She clutched at him. "No! No! You can't go down there, not with her! Please!"

He put his arms around her, holding her close. "If that's what you want, sweetheart," he said.

Belle couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She just buried her face in his shoulder, breathed in the scent of him, and tried to remember that she was free and she was safe and no one would close the doors on her again.


	7. Chapter 7

The door opened and closed quietly.

James turned around from the stove, lifting the pan he was using. “Is he coming?” he asked, then paused at the look on Regina’s face. She was standing with her hand on the door handle, and looked pale as death.

“Mom?” Henry slid down from the stool. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Regina looked from Henry to James. “He won’t be coming,” she said, her voice trembling. “He wouldn’t see me. His girl. Belle. She… reacted badly when she saw me.”

“Why?” Henry asked, approaching her. “Mom, what did you do to her?”

James saw the way Regina’s face crumpled. “Henry,” he murmured, “the curse. Remember the curse.”

Henry frowned. “But if Belle only has her memories from Storybrooke, it can’t be that bad.”

“It’s that bad,” Regina said quietly. She took a step closer to Henry and touched his shoulder with a hand that was shaking. “He wouldn’t even see me,” she said, looking at James. “He was with her. I waited half an hour, then the Lucas girl came back. She spoke to him and asked me to leave. I didn’t get a chance to tell them.”

“You should go,” Henry said, turning to James too. “He’ll listen to you. You helped him.”

James looked between them, then nodded. If Cora was bad enough to make Regina want to ask for Rumpelstiltskin’s help, then she had to be worse than anything they had dealt with. If Regina was afraid of someone, and thought Rumpelstiltskin would be too, James didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.

“I was making lunch,” he said, setting the pan down. “You can take over.”

Regina’s lips trembled in a smile. “What are we having?”

He looked ruefully into the pan. “It was going to be scrambled egg,” he said, “but I’m not sure what happened.”

“We can make something else,” Henry said. James couldn’t help admiring his grandson’s courage as Henry took Regina’s hand. She needed it. That much was obvious from the look on her face, and she stared at Henry, startled. He squeezed her hand. “Come on, mom. There’s a ton of stuff in the cupboards.”

“Okay,” she said with a cautious smile. “We can do that.” She raised her eyes back to James and he could see the fear that was still there. “You need to tell him as soon as you can. Explain all we know. He has to listen.”

“I will,” James said, snatching his coat off the back of the chair. “Don’t wander off.”

For a moment, he saw a glimpse of the old Regina, glaring at him. “I wasn’t going to take him anywhere.”

“I meant you either,” he said patiently. “I don’t want either of you in any danger.”

“We’ll be here,” Henry said. “Mom, can you make bread?”

James took her moment of distraction to slip out the front door.

Ruby was expecting him. She was standing by the front door when he got out of the squad car, her arms folded over her chest, and her expression was grim. “Whoever told her to come over here without warning is in a world of trouble,” she said quietly, closing the door after him.

“She decided herself,” James said, looking around the living room. It was deserted, as was the dining room. “Something bad is coming, and she knows Rumpelstiltskin is the only person who can deal with it.”

“She should have called ahead,” Ruby said with a sigh. “They’re upstairs. I think we’re going to have to break him loose with a pry bar.”

“How bad was it?”

Ruby looked at him as they made their way upstairs. “She opened the front door to the woman who kept her in an asylum for three decades and took her identity,” she said. “It was about as bad as you’d expect.”

James winced. “She’ll be okay?”

Ruby didn’t look at him. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. She led the way down the hall, and tapped lightly on the door. “Belle? It’s me. James is here. Is it okay if we come in?”

There was no reply, then Rumpelstiltskin spoke, “Come in. It’s not locked.”

Ruby gently pushed the door inwards, and motioned for James to stay behind her.

Over her shoulder, he could see Rumpelstiltskin was sitting on the bed, half-propped against pillows, and Belle was curled tightly against him. There were damp patches on his shirt, where she must have been crying, and her face was hidden by her hair. He could see she was shaking.

“Hey,” James said quietly.

Rumpelstiltskin’s hand was moving over and over on Belle’s hair, stroking soothingly. He raised his eyes and nodded. James could see fury there and grief. He didn’t speak. It looked like he was too angry to.

“I thought I should come and see if you’re okay,” James murmured, moving alongside Ruby. 

Belle shuddered, her fingers tightening on Rumpelstiltskin’s side.

“What do you want, dearie?” Rumpelstiltskin said, his voice smooth as silk, but ice-cold. “If it’s to excuse her Majesty…”

James shook his head. “We need your help,” he said.

Rumpelstiltskin bared his teeth. “I’m a little preoccupied at the moment,” he said tersely. “I would suggest you come back another day.”

“We don’t have another day,” James replied. “Does the name Cora mean anything to you?”

Rumpelstiltskin’s expression froze, and his hand stilled. “Yes,” he murmured darkly. “Yes, indeed. Last I heard, she was dead.”

“Well, she’s not,” James said. “Henry’s been speaking to people from our land in his dreams, a girl who is travelling with Snow and Emma. She said Cora is coming to these lands. She’s the person stopping them from coming back.”

Rumpelstiltskin’s face showed no emotion at all, and that, James realised, was a bad sign. It was rare for Rumpelstiltskin not to express something. For him to be blank-faced and stony-eyed meant that whatever emotions he was feeling, he didn’t want anyone to know. 

“It’s impossible,” he finally said.

“Not the way this girl tells it,” James said quietly. “Cora has to be pretty powerful to get you and Regina rattled.” He took a step closer to the bed. “You know Regina wouldn’t come to you unless she was desperate.”

Rumpelstiltskin nodded slowly. “Yes.” He drew a breath and released it slowly. “And what does she expect me to do to stop this touching family reunion?”

“She says you’re the one person who could stop Cora,” James said.

“I’d love to help,” the other man said, resuming his soothing stroking of Belle’s hair, “but as I said, I’m preoccupied.”

“Is she bad?” Belle whispered. Her voice sounded rough and raw.

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Belle’s crown. “Don’t you worry about it, sweetheart,” he murmured. “She’ll never get here.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “You said you’d protect me,” she whispered. “You said you’d tell me the truth. Is she bad?”

Rumpelstiltskin’s tongue darted along his lower lip, then he nodded. “She is, love. Very bad, in fact.”

“And you can stop her?”

“If anyone can, I can,” he said, lifting his other hand to touch Belle’s cheek with a tenderness that made James avert his eyes. He felt like he was intruding on something private and intimate. “But my first priority is you.”

“What would happen if she got here?”

The look that crossed fleetingly over Rumpelstiltskin’s face said it all. “She would go after the people she considered enemies,” he said, and he gazed at Belle. “She would go after me. Bad blood.”

Her hand trembled on his chest. “You have to stop her,” she said. “You have to make sure she doesn’t get here.” she swallowed hard, her face pale as chalk. “Even if you have to work with her.” She curled her fingers in his shirt. “Ruby can stay with me, and you’ll come home to me, right? If she does anything…”

“She’s trying to be a better person,” James said quietly, “if that helps. She’s looking after Henry. She’s changed, somehow.”

“Your girl broke her curse too,” Rumpelstiltskin murmured. He exhaled. “Very well. We’ll need to get a message to Henry’s dream companion. She can pass the information on to your wife and daughter, and if they act quickly, they may succeed.”

“Thank you,” James said.

Rumpelstiltskin met his eyes. “They haven’t succeeded yet,” he said quietly. “It’s never as easy as it might sound.”

He was proved right.

They met at his shop, though Rumpelstiltskin barely looked at Regina or acknowledged her. Henry was sent to sleep with a gentle bedtime story, a story that James thought he had known, the story of the trapping of Rumpelstiltskin. It turned out it was easy to trap a monster, when the monster knew all about it and baited and triggered the trap himself.

When they snared him, everyone believed it was a great victory. From the look on Regina’s face, she had believed the story as they all had too.

They watched Henry sleeping, and they watched him wake, alarmed and in pain.

As Rumpelstiltskin expected, it didn’t go to plan. Henry didn’t manage to pass on the message, and he ended up shaken and wounded for his efforts. 

James wanted to throw something. Smash something. Anything that wasn’t watching his only remaining family member suffer burns and nightmares. Anything that wasn’t standing idly by and doing nothing to save his wife and the daughter he barely knew.

In the end, the solution seemed simple, and for all that Regina and Rumpelstiltskin both looked at him doubtfully, he knew it was the only way.

Regina was making the curse they needed, and James paced the front of the shop.

“I don’t need to tell you this is a bad idea,” Rumpelstiltskin said quietly. “Magic is far from predictable in Storybrooke, and even if it works…”

James help up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it,” he said. “I refuse to let Henry go back there and suffer like that.”

“You’re going to stop the boy dreaming when he sleeps? A noble intention, but meaningless in the long run.”

James wheeled around. “So what would you have me do? Sit by and watch him get burned and tormented?” He shook his head. “This isn’t like Belle. This isn’t losing a true love. You have no idea what it’s like watching your child suffering.”

Rumpelstiltskin was silent for a long moment. “It isn’t going to be easy,” he finally said, “and if you fail…”

“I won’t.”

“If you do,” Rumpelstiltskin continued quietly, “if Cora makes it to Storybrooke, Regina and I will protect your boy, but that might not be enough. Bear that in mind while you’re playing the sleeping beauty, Charming.”

“I have to do this,” James said simply, quietly. “If it was Belle waiting in there…”

“If it was Belle waiting in there, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” Rumpelstiltskin replied. He sounded exhausted. “But Belle is waiting out here, and I can’t be fighting Cora, protecting your grandson and trying to break Storybrooke’s curse to restore her all at the same time. If it comes down to it, Belle will be safe. I made that promise. If that means leaving the rest of you…” He drummed his fingers on the cane. “You know I’m not the hero-type. I never pretended to be.”

“I know,” James said, leaning against the counter. “What are our chances?”

“Of what?” Rumpelstiltskin said, looking up at him. 

“All of it working out?” James said. “Any of it?”

Rumpelstiltskin’s lips twitched in something that wasn’t a smile. “Slim to none,” he said, rising as Regina and Henry came through from the back of the shop. “But that’s usually when the magic happens.”


	8. Chapter 8

Rumpelstiltskin was afraid, and he hated that feeling. He always had.

It was easier to control it when he had utter control of everything around him, as he played lives like a lyre, but when that control was taken, when there were variables there that shouldn't have been, that was when the fear returned. Cora was meant to be dead. Regina had made sure he knew about it. It had been her crowning moment, telling him she had beaten the one person he had never defeated.

He watched Regina check on the Prince, where he was arranged on the camp bed by the wall. Charming was breathing, but that was about all that could be said for him. The sleeping curse was a powerful one when it was in the blood, and the fact he hadn't woken suggested that something was very wrong. 

Rumpelstiltskin knew Cora.

He knew her far better than he cared to admit.

If Regina had been his pet monster, Cora had been the one that had broken free of her chains and run wild. She was ambitious, powerful, destructive, and above all else, she was cruel. Regina at least tried to make amends for the pains she put her child through. Cora... well, Cora saw no reason not to hurt her daughter, if she believed it would benefit her. She would do so again, and she would consider Rumpelstiltskin a challenge.

"I need to get back to Belle," he said finally. "Let me know if there's any change."

"And if there isn't?"

He met her eyes. "Well, we'll have to consider other options then," he said.

There was only one.

Block any route that invaders from the forest might use.

Belle had to be protected. He had failed her too many times already: years in captivity, wiped of memory, her life ruined. If Cora came through, if she was looking for vengeance, then Belle would be the chink in his armour, and she was too fragile, too vulnerable now. If Cora got to her, there was no limit to the damage that could be done.

He drove back to the house, closing the door quietly behind him.

Ruby was down the stairs in an instant. "What happened?" she asked urgently. "Where's James?"

Rumpelstiltskin hesitated, then explained as briefly as he could, summarising the plan as it had been. The plan as it now was, she did not need to know. "Regina is keeping watch over him with Henry," he said. "I thought I should come back and make sure Belle was all right."

"She was worried," Ruby said, nodding up the stairs. "She hasn't come out of the room since you left."

Rumpelstiltskin's heart ached. She was closing herself up again, keeping herself in the place she considered safe in his absence. "Would you be able to make some tea?" he asked quietly, as he mounted the staircase. Ruby nodded, and he continued on his way. He knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Belle?"

He heard the key turn in the lock and she opened the door, peeping out. "Is it safe?" she asked.

"As safe as I can make it," he murmured. "May I come in?"

She opened the door wide enough to let him in, then closed it just as quickly behind him. She was still wearing one of his pullovers, but the sleeves were stretched over her hands, and she was tugging at them spasmodically. He caught her hands gently, lost as they were in the sleeves.

"It's all right," he said. "You're safe. I promised I would keep you safe, and I will."

She stared up at him, and he could feel how much her hands were shaking in his. "You went with her," she said. "I-I know you had to, but I kept thinking what if she locked you up? What if she stopped you coming back?" Her eyes were brimming with tears. "You've been taking care of me. I don't want you to be gone."

"Oh, sweetheart," he whispered, drawing her closer and putting his arms around her. She clung to him. "I'm not going anywhere, Belle. Not without you."

Her cheek was hot and damp against his neck, and he felt more than heard her whisper, "Promise?"

He nodded against her tangled hair and soothingly rubbed her back. "I promise," he said quietly. If people had to die to ensure that, and to ensure that she was safe, so be it. There was only so much heroism a man could give. If it came to being a villain to save the fair maiden, then he knew he would do what he had to.

Belle was still shivering in his arms, but it was calmer, as if his presence was enough to ease her mind. Her fingers spread on his back, and just for a moment, she was holding him, just holding him, almost a true embrace, rather than one born of fear and anxiety. "Thank you," she whispered.

He drew back, not quite out of her arms, but enough to look her in the eyes. "I will do anything I have to," he told her quietly, "to keep you safe." He lifted his hand to her cheek, brushing the tears away with his thumb.

Even with tears in her eyes, and the stains on her cheeks, she still was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, and it was so tempting to lean down, to kiss her as he had in the forest. But this wasn't his Belle, not now, not as she had been, and he knew he would never forgive himself if he did anything to hurt her.

"Why?" she asked in a whisper. Her voice caught him off-guard. 

"Why?" he echoed.

"Why keep me safe?" she asked, searching his face. She knew. Of course she knew. Ruby must have told her a dozen times, and if not, he knew the way he looked at her gave him away. But he had never said it, never been brave enough with this Belle that was, yet wasn't, his. He lowered his gaze, shivering when she touched his cheek with her fingertips. "Please, tell me?"

He raised his eyes to her face. "You know," he said, his voice quiet.

"Please," she said again, softly. "Tell me?"

"Belle..." His voice sounded thin, strange, fragile.

"Please," she whispered, her fingers curling gently against his cheek. "Let me understand something here."

His hand covered hers against his cheek, and he turned his head, brushing his lips against the heel of her hand. "I love you," he whispered, unable to look her in the eye as she said it, this woman who was and wasn't Belle. 

Her thumb grazed his cheekbone. "And I love you too," she replied in a tiny voice. His breath caught and he looked at her, wondering if perhaps, but some strange magic, the curse had broken. She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I-I don't remember, but I do. I know I love you."

He drew her back into his arms and held her, close and warm and safe. He hardly even noticed the knock at the door, or Ruby slipping in with tea. It was only when Belle drew back, stealing his handkerchief to wipe at her face, that he realised they were no longer alone.

He stepped back, drawing what little veneer of calm he had left around him.

"What happens now?" Ruby asked, as Belle curled up in one of the chairs near the windows.

Rumpelstiltskin gazed at her, as she dried her eyes. She had to be protected, at whatever the cost.

"Regina and I will find some solution," he said, looking at Ruby. "Stay here. Stay safe." 

He was halfway to the door when Belle spoke.

"Rumpelstiltskin?"

He turned, looked at her. "Yes, love?"

Her eyes were red-rimmed, but clear. "Come back to me."

He nodded, unable to speak, as he stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

If he ever managed to get her memories back, it was very possible she would not forgive him for what he was about to do, but as long as she was safe, as long as no one could or would harm her again, he could hold onto the fact that she had - at least for a little while - loved him in this world too.

 

_______________________________________________

 

 

Regina had taken little persuasion.

It was bad enough to have someone who was a threat to her, but her greater concern was for Henry. A mother who loved her child enough to protect him was someone he might have respected. Children were to be protected. It was his one mantra, after failing Bae. He never harmed a living child. The adults that surrounded them, certainly, but children deserved protection. 

Henry was a good boy, honest and brave like his grandparents and his mother. He had too much of the hero in him to be told what their intentions really were. 

That was why his arrival in the forest came as a surprise, when the seal at the well was bubbling and crackling.

Ruby raced around Rumpelstiltskin, catching him off-guard. His hand moved automatically, and threw her back with a gesture. They had come to far, and the magic was too strong to be stopped now. As long as it held, as long as nothing came through, they would be safe, Belle would be safe.

"Ruby!" Belle's voice cut through the air. Rumpelstiltskin spun around, to see her scrambling down over the fallen branches and rushing to her friend. She looked up at him in horrified confusion. "What are you doing?" she demanded, her voice shrill with panic. "Why did you hurt Ruby?"

"We have to keep Cora out," Rumpelstiltskin said, forcing his voice to remain steady.

"It's not Cora!" Henry screamed. He was fighting against Regina's arms. "My mom and Snow are coming through! I know it! You have to stop it! You'll kill them!"

Regina held him tight. "We can't risk it, Henry!" she said, her voice breaking. "If Cora gets through..."

"It's not her! It's not!" Henry threw himself out of her hold and towards the well.

Rumpelstiltskin averted his eyes, unable to watch another child and parent parted by a portal, and unable to even bring himself to look at Belle. He flinched when he felt a hand on his arm, and turned his head to find Belle by his side, her hand on his sleeve.

"You promised you would keep me safe," she said quietly.

He met her eyes. "I told you I would to anything," he replied.

"Even kill?" She looked so lost, so saddened, and it hurt more than shouting and anger and recriminations. "I don't want people to die for me, Rumpelstiltskin. Please don't let people die for my sake."

"If Cora comes through..."

"Then she comes through," Belle pleaded, grasping his hand. "Please, Rumpelstiltskin. This isn't the way. I want to be safe, but I don't want to be left with the blood of innocent people all over me because of it. If they die, it'll be as much my fault as anyone's, and I can't live with that." Her grip was bruising. "Please."

It was the echo of another day in this same forest, and another plea.

Promise me, and we can be together.

"If that's what you want," he said slowly, squeezing her hand.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Regina looked over Henry's head at him, and he met her eyes, nodded.

Together, they walked to the well.

"This is probably the stupidest thing we have ever done together," he murmured, facing her across the well.

One side of her mouth twitched up helplessly. "That's saying something," she said, and both of them extended their hands over the well. 

The power surged and leapt, and between them, they managed to break the seal stopping the well, though both of them fell back, gasping. Rumpelstiltskin sagged heavily to sit on the ground, his hands trembling. The forest was silent, but for the rasping of his breath and Regina's.

"I'm sorry, Henry," Regina's voice reached him.

The boy cried out and Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes, leaning forward over his legs. After all that, it was for nothing after all. With effort, he struggled to his feet to see Belle with her arms around Henry, but more importantly, he saw an arm emerge from the well, followed by a familiar blonde head.

"Mom?"

He stood, aching, and still shivering from the after effects of the power, and watched as mother and son were reunited. Snow was there too, mother and daughter and grandson. He knew he should feel some measure of guilt for having almost killed them both, but it was lost in the exhausted relief that it wasn't Cora. Belle was still safe. She knew what he was now, what he was capable of doing to protect the people he loved, but she was safe. She could hate him as much as she liked. She was safe.

He braced his hand heavily against the far side of the well, watching as the little family hurried off to find their last missing member. Ruby went with them, and Belle - hand-in-hand with the wolf - hurried along with her. She looked back at him, just for a moment, then she was lost in the trees. 

Regina was standing on the other side of the well, just as unsteady, and looked back at him.

"Worth it?" she asked dully.

He drew a breath, and picked his way slowly around the well. "They're both safe," he said. "Surely you didn't expect them to be happy about it."

Regina looked away, wrapping her arms across her middle.

Rumpelstiltskin looked out through the trees, drew himself up, and set off back in the direction of town.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing quite as fun when that moment when canon bollixes your WIP.

There was going to be a celebration at the diner, to welcome Snow and Emma home.

It was a happy occasion, but Ruby wasn't feeling as happy as she would have liked.

She had a lump on her head the size of a small boulder from where she'd hit the ground, and worse than that was Belle. The girl had retreated into herself, and was sitting silently on the couch in the social room in Granny's inn. Rumpelstiltskin - Mr Gold - had shocked her with his behaviour.

It wasn't that she hadn't been told.

It was that she hadn't believed it.

Ruby went into the room after washing up and changing for the party.

Belle was curled up on the couch, gazing blankly into a half-drunk cup of tea.

"Hey," Ruby said quietly, sitting down beside her. "You okay?"

Belle shook her head. "I don't know," she said in a small voice. "He looks after me. Keeps me safe. Keeps her away from me. And then, he's going to kill two women, just in case someone bad comes to town?"

Ruby reached up to draw Belle's hair back over her shoulder. "If it's any consolation, from the sounds of her, that Cora woman was really, really bad," she said. "I know it's not much help." She sighed. "I don't normally stand by Gold, but Emma said that he was doing the right thing."

Belle looked at her, lost. "Do you believe that?"

"She fought Cora," Ruby said. The return had been discussed over a brunch that had lasted three hours. Belle had vanished into the inn and hid herself out of sight, with too much to think about. "If Emma says Cora is worse than Regina..."

Belle shuddered so violently that tea spilled over her hands.

Ruby saved the cup. It was stone cold. "You should come to the party," she said, setting the cup aside and taking Belle's cold hands in hers, drying them with her sleeve. "I know there are a lot of people, but it's a close circle. All my best friends will be there, and they're good people."

"I-I don't know," Belle said, looking down at their hands. "I wouldn't want to get in the way."

"You wouldn't," Ruby promised her, squeezing her hands. "It'll take your mind off things, and you can meet Snow properly." She smiled encouragingly. "You'll love her. She was my best friend back in the forest."

Belle looked up at her. "Maybe for a little while," she agreed quietly. 

She installed herself in one of the booths, keeping her head down and nursing a cup of tea, as people started to arrive. She barely even glanced up, and Ruby wondered it maybe it was a bad idea, pressing her into coming. She stayed close by, just in case Belle looked like she needed a reason to escape, but it turned out she didn't need to worry when Grumpy arrived and stopped dead.

"Belle?" he said, as he shed his coat at the door.

Belle looked up, startled, at her name. She frowned in confusion. "Do I know you?"

To Ruby's surprise, Grumpy's face lit up in a broad grin. "Yeah, you do," he said, striding over and sliding into the booth opposite her. "We met back in the old world a few times. You told me to find love, I told you to find adventure. I think we were both kinda drunk." He paused, frowning. "Course, I went by Dreamy back then, but I didn't know you were in town."

"I-I haven't been out much," Belle said, looking down at her cup. Ruby could see she was both happy and alarmed. It had to be a shock to find out that someone else knew her from the old world, someone who wasn't Rumpelstiltskin, even if she didn't know herself. "I'm sorry," she said, looking up at him. "I don't remember."

Grumpy's expression creased in a rueful smile. "Hey, I'm a dwarf," he said. "We're not exactly the memorable type."

"Oh!" Belle flushed. "No! It's not that!" She pushed her cup to one side. "I went across the line."

Grumpy looked up at Ruby, then back at Belle. "Oh," he said, his face falling. "Yeah. Granny mentioned Ruby had been staying with someone. I didn't know it was you." He leaned forward on the table. "One of my brothers went over the line, a while back. We keep looking for fairy dust to make things better, but..." He shrugged helplessly. "This kind of town isn't exactly made for magic." He put his head to one side. "Granny said you were staying with Gold?"

Belle looked up at Ruby.

"She knew Rumpelstiltskin in the old world," Ruby said, sitting down beside her. 

"Made a deal, huh?"

Belle's cheeks flushed. "Um. I think so. We... had a thing."

Ruby wished she had a camera for the look on Grumpy's face. "So that's who you were talking about. You should be with the one you love and all that?"

Belle stared at him. "I said that?"

"You also had a real big mug of ale," Grumpy said, nodding solemnly. He frowned more deeply. "Wait a second. You and Stiltskin?"

Belle didn't reply. She was staring at the door, her face bone-white.

"Belle?" Ruby said. She followed Belle's gaze, and rose. Her fingers curved as if claws wanted to slide out, and Grumpy turned in his seat.

Regina was standing in the doorway.

"What the hell is she doing here?" he snarled.

Belle slid out of the booth, backing away. "I-I-I have to go," she stammered. "Please. Please. I need to be out. Out of here."

Grumpy rose, putting himself between the girl and the Queen. "You get her out of here," he said to Ruby, who nodded, gathering the trembling Belle in her arms. She took her out through the back, and Belle barely made it down the first step before she sat heavily, shaking, tears on her face.

Ruby sat down beside her, holding her closer. "It's okay," she whispered, rubbing her hand soothingly up and down Belle's arm. "It's okay. She's not going to hurt you."

"You said it would be friends," Belle said, her voice trembling so much it was barely understandable. "You didn't say she would be coming."

"I didn't know," Ruby said softly. "God, Belle. I'm sorry. I didn't realise someone told her."

Tear-filled blue eyes looked at her. "Am I safe? From her? Am I safe now?"

"I don't know," Ruby replied unhappily, as Belle curled closer to her, her head on Ruby's shoulder. She was shaking hard, her hands knotted together. "She helped Mr Gold stop whatever it was they did. She never tried to save Snow or Emma before. Maybe she's changing. Henry wants to think she is."

Belle's fingers twisted over and over together, the knuckles white.

The door opened behind them and Belle flinched, shrinking closer to Ruby. Ruby looked up.

"Hey," Emma said quietly.

"Hey." Ruby Gave Belle a reassuring squeeze. "It's just Emma, Belle."

The Sheriff sat down on a step lower than Belle, looking up at her. "I'm sorry," she said. "I had no idea you would be coming. David just told me what she did to you."

Belle didn't look at her, but her hands were getting whiter and whiter, clasped together so tightly. Ruby put her hands over Belle's, her other arm still around Belle's shoulder. "Do you want to go home?" she asked, then almost bit her tongue. The only home Belle knew was Gold's house.

"Can I stay with you?" Belle asked in a whisper. She didn't look up. 

"Of course," Ruby said, resting her cheek against Belle's hair. She looked at Emma. "Is she still in there?"

Emma nodded. "I only invited her because Henry would have wanted her there," she said quietly. "She's still his mom, even if she has done terrible things in the past."

Belle laughed brokenly. "In the past? It was my whole life." She raised her eyes to Emma, and there were tears on her face. "All I knew for my whole life were walls. Walls and a door and no way out, and she was always, always there." She untangled one of her hands to swipe at her face. "The man in there, he said I was in the fairytale lands, but I don't remember. I don't know who I am. I don't know who I was. She did that to me."

Emma was silent for a long moment, then reached up and touched Belle's shoulder. "You're safe now," she said. "Gold said he'll protect you, and I will too." She ducked her head down to meet Belle's eyes. "I won't let her hurt you again, I promise."

Belle nodded mutely, leaning into Ruby.

"Come on," Ruby said, helping her to her feet. "We can go home." She looked at Emma. "Can you tell Snow where I am?"

Emma straightened up with a nod. "Of course. She'll want to come by and see you."

Ruby smiled briefly, leading Belle down the steps. It wasn't far to the inn, but Belle seemed to be tripping her own feet, drained and exhausted. The place was quiet, and Ruby led her up to the room that had always been allocated to her. It was plainer now she'd stripped back a lot of the decoration, but it was warm and comfortable. 

They hadn't gone back for any of Belle's stuff from Gold's house, so Ruby dug through her own wardrobe and pulled out an oversized t-shirt for her to sleep in.

Belle sat on the edge of the bed, her hands crushed between her knees.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked quietly, drawing out the stool from the dresser and sitting down.

Belle looked down at her hands. "I want to go back to him," she said unhappily, "but I don't. I felt safe there, but now..." She shook her head. "I don't know what to do."

Ruby leaned forward, clasping Belle's hands between hers. "Take a couple of days," she said. "Sleep on it. Take your time. You don't have to make a decision right away." She lifted one hand to touch Belle's cheek, brushing the hair back from her face. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to."

A small, grateful smile crossed Belle's lips. "Thank you," she whispered.

Ruby slipped out of the room while Belle changed. She went to the kitchen, made up a cup of hot milk for the girl, then returned to the room, knocking lightly on the door. Belle was already curled in the bed, and didn't speak. She wasn't asleep, although she was pretending to be. Ruby could tell that much from the sound of her breathing.

She also caught the scent of fresh tears.

Ruby set down the mug on the bedside cabinet, and slipped off her shoes. She settled on the bed and curled her body behind Belle's, putting her arm around Belle's waist. Belle trembled, turning her face towards the pillow. Ruby wished she knew what to say, something that would help, but she couldn't think of a thing. All she could do was wrap herself around the girl and hold her and keep her safe until morning.


	10. Chapter 10

It felt like starting all over again. 

A new, strange place, even if Ruby was there beside her.

New ideas to fit into her head about the man she thought she was coming to care about.

She cared about him. She still did. She remembered the way he held her, when Ruby wasn’t there. She remembered the smell of his aftershave. The way he comforted her but didn’t ever talk down to her like she was an idiot. 

The way he was willing to kill to protect her. 

Belle stared down at the paper in front of her.

Her writing practise was getting nowhere.

She forced herself to picked up the pen. It wouldn’t help to think more about the magic over the well, the magic that would have killed Emma and Snow. She’d met them both and she could see why Ruby liked them, and they could have been dead. 

The pen scratched against the paper and she frowned in concentration, forming her own name in crude letters. Even the pen felt unfamiliar in her hand. Taking her words had been cruel enough, but everything that went with them was even worse.

His name followed.

Both of them. The man of Storybrooke and the monster of the Forest. She didn’t know which one she was meant to love. Or if she was meant to love both.

Ruby knocked on the door. “Belle?”

Belle crumpled up the paper, tossing it into the trash, and turned. “Yes?”

Her friend leaned around the door. “I’m going out for some fresh air before my shift at the diner,” she said. “Do you want to take a walk with me? It’s a nice morning.”

Belle hesitated. Outside would be nice, but the last time she had gone somewhere unfamiliar, her captor had been there, and it felt like Belle’s sanity had come crashing down around her. She shook her head, turning away. “No. No, thank you.”

The room was where she felt safe now. Not as safe as his home, but safe enough. Ruby brought her books that Gold had delivered to the inn, and she knew he wanted to see her, but he didn’t push his way in. If she wanted to see him, she knew he would be waiting and he would be patient, even if it meant waiting forever. 

She retreated back to the bed.

It was still warm from being slept in, and she drew the blankets over her head.

She could try reading, but her mind was buzzing, and she wanted to be free and happy and out in the world, but all she could think of was the fact that the world outside her cell might have colour and taste and sound, but it was hard and sharp and frightening.

It was a long while before she emerged, and when she did, she only ventured as far as the bathroom, locking herself in and soaking until the water went cold and her fingers looked like pink raisins. She sat on the toilet lid, wrapped in a towel, and watched the water drain away, then returned to the room and closed the door again.

By the time evening fell and Ruby returned, she had managed to do some of her writing practise, and was even picking her way through one of the books that Gold had sent. It was a child’s book, which she was embarrassed by, but that feeling was overwhelmed by the pride she felt when she managed to follow the story from beginning to end. 

She smiled unsteadily at Ruby when the other girl came into the room, carrying a tray with their dinner.

“How was your day?” she asked, setting the tray down on the bed.

Belle accepted one of the bowls of thick, juicy stew. “I had a bath and did some reading,” she said. “How was work?”

“Work-like,” Ruby said with a smile and a shrug. “You know.” Her face fell. “I mean… uh…”

Belle laughed unsteadily. “It’s okay. I know what you meant.” She sat down on the bed, drawing up her legs in front of her. “I finished a book.”

Ruby’s expression brightened. “That’s great! You’ll be up to the classics in no time!”

Belle smiled again, though it was small and tired. It would be a long road, but small steps were the way to do it. When Ruby suggested they watch a movie, she didn’t have the heart to refuse, and the settled side-by-side on the bed, watching a romantic comedy about mistaken identity and true love.

She didn’t mean to, but her mind wandered back in the direction of Gold, alone in his big, lonely house. He had touched her hand, and held her, and asked her what she wanted to do. He had never pushed, never demanded, never did anything to hurt her.

When she wiped her eyes, Ruby thought it was because of the ending of the movie.

“Bad choice?” she asked, worried.

Belle shook her head. “Good choice,” she said. “I think I’m not in the right mood. I’m sorry.”

Ruby gathered up the dishes on the tray and shoved them out of the way. “Don’t be,” she said. She fiddled with her bracelet, frowning, then suggested, “Hey, how about I read for you? If you like? Do you have a favourite story?”

Belle nodded, unable to speak. 

Gold read to her. He must have told Ruby that when he brought the books over. She got to her feet and went to the book pile, picking out the one he had been reading to her in chapters, the one he knew she would want to hear, the one he had put at the top of the parcel. 

“This,” she whispered. 

Ruby glanced at the title, then smiled. “I think I know why he chose this one,” she said. “You want to get ready for bed, and we can read under the covers?”

Belle nodded.

She had been given some proper pyjamas when Snow came to visit, fluffy flannel things that kept her warm. Snow insisted that they’d be more use to Belle than to her. She was smiling sheepishly, and Belle knew she had just been reunited with her husband. It didn’t take a genius to know why she would want rid of flannel from her closet. 

Belle changed into them, and sat on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair, as Ruby changed and freshened up. It was too early to be going to bed, but curled beneath the covers, her head on Ruby’s shoulder, the bedside lamps making the room seem warmer and cosier, it felt better and less isolating. 

“I’m guessing you’re up to the marker?”

Belle nodded. “We had just reached chapter twelve,” she said quietly.

Ruby opened up the book with one hand, her other arm tucking the blankets more snugly around them, and started to read. 

It wasn’t the same as with Gold. Ruby read what was in front of her, where Gold added voices fro characters, and changed his tone and the volume to create a mood. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the same, and with the introduction of the newest character, Belle wished once more that she was back in his care.

All the same, she thanked Ruby, who hugged her warmly, then replaced the bookmark, and switched off the lights so they could sleep. Belle nestled against her, and stared blindly into the darkness until sleep finally caught up with her.

Her dreams had been strange since the hospital.

Bits of the day slipped into them, maybe something she saw, or something she heard.

This time, it was Gold on a horse, rearing up when she staggered into his path. He fell, and she saw him, but he didn’t get up or curse, just lay there, still and silent, and Belle felt the sick terror well up in her as she touched him and his blood was on her hands.

She sat up with a cry. 

Ruby jolted awake. “Wh-what is it?”

Belle was shaking hard. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been real. But it felt it. It felt like her protector had fallen. She flinched when Ruby put her arms around her, then curled against the other woman, clinging to her.

“Bad dream,” she whispered.

“Wanna tell me about it?” Ruby asked, as they nestled back under the covers.

Belle shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “Just a dream.”

She managed to sleep again, though it wasn’t restful, troubled by stranger dreams that weren’t quite enough to wake her, but were enough to leave her feeling exhausted when she woke up. 

“You should come down to the diner for breakfast,” Ruby said, as she rolled out of bed, all long legs and dark hair. “We can have pancakes or waffles or anything you like.” She reached back to drag her hair into a loose ponytail. “It’s early enough that it’ll just be us.”

Belle smoothed the bedding over her legs. She felt shaken, whether by the dreams or by the lack of unbroken sleep, and being around people, rather than staying in the room on her own felt like it would be safer.

“For a little while,” she agreed.

Ruby’s face lit in a smile. “You want me to wait for you? Or will you come down yourself?”

Belle took a deep breath. She had to start being brave, even if she was scared, or else she’d need someone to hold her hand forever. “I’ll come down after I wash up,” she said. She managed a shaky smile. “Keep a seat for me?”

Ruby nodded at once.

It wasn’t so bad.

When she finally made herself set foot out the door and walk the short distance to the diner, the streets were almost empty. All the same, as soon as she reached the building, she had to sit down in the nearest seat because her legs weren’t ready to hold her anymore.

“You made it!” Ruby exclaimed, hurrying over to her.

Belle smiled shakily. “Just.”

Ruby crouched down by her chair. “You want to sit here? Or someone a little more private?”

“Private is good,” Belle agreed, releasing a shaking breath. “I-I don’t like being stared at.”

Ruby ushered her quickly to one of the booths, and by the time a plate of hot, sticky pancakes were set in front of her, other people had drifted into the diner. Emma Swan and Henry Mills were at the next booth over, and he gave Belle a wide grin, as he and his mother ate, but the rest of the people hardly even seemed to notice her.

It didn’t feel so big or so frightening. 

The pancakes were good. Her tea was hot. She was somewhere that wasn’t frightening.

She waved to Henry as he and Emma left, and she felt a smile on her lips, a genuine smile. It might be easier to get used to this world, just little by little. She sipped her tea, then looked up startled, when she heard Pongo barking.

Ruby swore, and rushed out from behind the counter, out into the street.

Belle started to rise, alarmed. 

“Don’t go anywhere!” Ruby called back.

Belle subsided into her seat, turning her cup in her hands, feeling an odd, nervous burn in her belly, a twist of uncomfortableness. Something felt wrong. Ruby didn’t seem the kind of person to panic like that.

It was a long while before she returned, and when she did, there were lights flashing outside, and other people in the diner were peering out of the windows. Belle rose at once at the look on Ruby’s face. She was bone-white and her eyes were red.

“Wh-what happened?” Belle asked, her hands gripping her cup tightly. 

Ruby looked right through her and said in a dull voice, “Archie’s dead. Regina killed him.”

It felt like the world went silent around Belle. She felt the cup slide from her hands. She saw it shatter on the floor. She felt the room swimming around her. Her legs went out from beneath her, and she fell to her knees, china cutting her skin, her blood mingling with spilled tea.

The world was hard and sharp and cruel and she wasn’t safe. She wasn’t safe anywhere but with him. She had to go back to him. She had to be safe, had to be protected.

“Gold,” she whispered. “I need Mr Gold.”


	11. Chapter 11

The day was going from bad to worse.

It had been such a relief to have Snow and Emma back that James hadn’t even thought how Regina would take it. For days, she had been helping him with Henry, and he had almost believed she was making a real effort, something he hadn’t imagined was possible.

Emma had called him from Archie’s office. 

She didn’t tell him what the problem was, just to get there as soon as he could, and when he did, he could see why she hadn’t said anything. She was sitting silently in the chair, watching the coroner’s people lifted Archie into a body bag.

Ruby pointed the finger at Regina, who had been seen entering the office the night before.

It wasn’t exactly news that Regina and good behaviour didn’t seem to last.

Still, he asked Emma to let him be the one to tell Snow, and he wasn’t surprised that she wanted to be there when Regina was called in for questioning. 

It wasn’t because it was Regina. It was because it was Emma who was doing the questioning, and if she even so much as looked cross-eyed at his daughter, he wanted to be there to protect his child, in all the ways he had missed for twenty-eight years.

When she acted the innocent, even lied about going into the office, he wondered how he could have ever believed her capable of change at all. Ruby wouldn’t lie to them, not when it was about Archie, not when it was this important.

And yet, of all the people to refuse to believe Regina was guilty, it was Emma who stood her ground and insisted the Queen wasn’t to blame. In spite of the evidence. In spite of the witness who saw her go in. In spite of the fact the Queen was lying. 

Evidence was what they needed, and as much as he wanted to take Emma aside and tell her that Regina had done this before, over and over again, despite more chances than they cared to count, he nodded, agreed, and let his daughter do what she needed to do.

He knew why she wanted to believe Regina. It was like Snow all over again: she wanted to see the good in her, not for her own sake. Snow wanted to save Regina. Emma wanted to save Henry from the knowledge that his mother was a killer. Again.

They went to Archie’s office, went through the files, and he fought down the need to demand Regina’s head when they found the files empty. She was covering her tracks, but Emma insisted - still - again - that it was too easy, too simple.

That was how life went, though: James had learned many years before that sometimes, life was exactly as it appeared. He let Emma cling to the illusion that Regina might have been framed, let her insist, knowing it wasn’t for herself. 

It was for Henry. 

James knew he would have done the same thing. If he could have protected Emma from a life that was hard and cruel and the truths that went with it, he knew he would have clung to every possible option to do so. They had done that, right up until the curse hit, they had tried everything, lied to themselves about the fact they would all be all right.

They wouldn’t be. Not perfect, not ever.

Henry wouldn’t be either. 

They had all been through too much for that. 

But if he could buy her a little grace, if she was right…

It wasn’t as if Gold didn’t have just cause. The incident at the well had driven Belle from him, again, and that was partly Regina’s fault again. To say nothing of the fact that Belle’s current state was entirely down to Regina’s curse.

They reached Gold’s house within the half hour. His shop was closed up and locked, which was unusual, especially since he had been spending all his time there. Ever since Snow and Emma’s return, Belle had been staying with Ruby and Gold was back at the shop, working on magic to breach the perimeter of Storybrooke.

The reason became clear the moment they reached his house. 

His car was standing out front, and the doors were open, like he had got out in a hurry and forgotten to close them.

“That doesn’t look good,” Emma said warily.

James looked up at the door of the house. There was one thing that could make Gold - Rumpelstiltskin - rush around without a care for his property, and she was slight, blue-eyed, lost, and currently the worst person to find out that Regina was backsliding after Henry.

“Belle,” he said. “Belle heard what happened.”

“The girl who crossed the line?” Emma said, as James ran towards the stairs.

He paused on the porch. “There’s something I might have missed,” he said.

“What?” Snow asked, frowning. 

He hesitated. “Belle is Gold’s true love,” he said. 

Mother and daughter both stared at him in disbelief.

“Yeah, right,” Emma snorted. “You’ve met Gold, right? Arrogant? Manipulative? Self-serving bastard?”

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” James said. “Her father sent her across the line because he didn’t want his daughter in love with Rumpelstiltskin.”

Snow winced. “And all her memories here…” She shook her head. “James, if she’s here, if she knows what Regina did…”

“She is,” he said with certainty. “She stays with Ruby. Ruby wouldn’t lie to her.” He rapped on the door with his knuckles, and peered through the glass panels. He couldn’t see Gold anywhere in there, but after a few minutes, Ruby opened the door.

“Hey,” she said. Her eyes were swollen and red.

“Belle?”

She looked away from them. “She knows,” she said. “She had to come back here. It’s the only place she feels safe.”

James felt sick to his stomach. If Emma was right about Gold framing Regina, a whole other motive had just presented itself: Belle would feel threatened enough to return to him. If he had forced her hand, made her come back by killing Archie, by framing Regina…

“We need to see Gold,” he said. “Is he here too?”

Ruby nodded. “He’s upstairs,” she said, putting out a hand to stop James pushing by her, “but I don’t think it’s a good idea. Not yet.”

“Is she okay?” Snow asked quietly.

Ruby shook her head. “Why do you need to see him?” she asked.

“We think he framed Regina,” Emma said as Ruby let them into the hall. “Too many coincidences. Too much pointing at Regina, and she’s acting like she doesn’t know anything about it.”

“You’re serious?” Ruby said, looking at James in disbelief. “You think he’d do that?”

“It got Belle back here, didn’t it?” James said quietly. “Maybe that was the reason.”

Ruby shook her head. “No,” she said. “You didn’t see the look on his face when I took Belle to the store. He had no idea what was going on. He didn’t do anything.”

“I wish we could believe that,” Emma said, “but it wouldn’t be the first time he’s blindsided everyone.”

Ruby ran a hand over her face. “I can go and ask him if he’ll come down,” she said, “but I don’t think he will. Belle was hardly saying a word, and I don’t think he wants to leave her on her own.”

“Maybe I could come up?” Snow offered. “If two of us are there, maybe he’ll be willing to come down to speak to Emma and James?”

Ruby sighed. “I guess we can try,” she said. “You guys wait in the living room.”

Snow and Ruby headed up the stairs, and Emma stalked into the living room, pacing impatiently. 

“Do you think he could do this?” she demanded, turning on James.

“I wouldn’t put anything past him,” he admitted, “but this is your theory, Emma. Do you think he would do something like this?”

“He sent me to face a dragon,” Emma said curtly.

“You too?”

She turned, looking at him. “What?”

“Let me guess: a golden egg of some kind was involved?”

Emma nodded with a tired, crooked smile. “I had to get it back,” she said. “God knows how it got in there.”

“That would be me,” James said. He sat down on the couch, propping his forearms on his thighs. “All I know about this guy is that Belle is the most important thing in the world to him right now. He wouldn’t want to hurt her.”

“Wanting and doing are two very different things,” Emma said quietly, picking an ornament off the mantle and looking at it. “Who’s to say he didn’t do it, just to get her back? Who’s to say he didn’t realise how much it would upset her?”

“Your faith astonishes me.”

James rose as Emma turned.

Gold was standing on the staircase, halfway down, grim-faced. “What do you want?”

“What do you know about Archie?” Emma said, walking forward.

“I know he’s dead and that I won’t shed any tears for him,” Gold replied, one hand resting on the banister, fingers tapping impatiently. “If you have accusations to make, I would suggest you make them and get out of my house. Belle needs peace and quiet, and you and your family certainly are not allowing us that.”

“Gold, this isn’t the first time you would have framed someone,” Emma said. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Kathryn.”

His eyes narrowed to dark slits. “And did I kill anyone? No. In point of fact, I saved the former Mrs Nolan’s life, and made sure she lived to tell the tale, rather than leaving Regina to do exactly as she planned to.” He took one step down the stairs. “I may have abducted her, but I never did her harm. Which is more than can be said for whoever went after Hopper.”

James folded his arms over his chest. “And we’re meant to just believe you?”

Gold looked at him with ice in his expression. “How the worm turns,” he murmured. He looked at Emma. “You’re the Sheriff, dearie. There’s such a thing as looking for evidence, using all resources at your disposal. You have a werewolf who can track people by scent. I would recommend you utilise her.”

“Ruby can do that?” Emma said in disbelief. “Smell people out?”

“She’ll be able to find out if Regina was the last person to lay hands on your precious cricket,” Gold said. “Now, if you don’t mind, get out of my house. The ladies Red and Snow will join you momentarily.”

Without another word, he turned and retreated back up the stairs.

“Is it me or is he more on edge than usual?” Emma said quietly.

James drummed his fingers on his arm. “He’s worried about her,” he said, “Belle. Years ago, he told me he thought she had died in the Enchanted Forest, but it turned out that Regina had kept her prisoner there too.”

“Well, she just gets more and more charming, doesn’t she?” Emma said, breathing out. “Do you think Ruby really can find the last person to touch Archie?”

“It’s better than nothing,” James admitted. He approached her and squeezed her shoulder. “I didn’t want this to be the world you came back to: death and betrayal and everything.”

She looked at him with her mother’s quiet, grave smile. “I know,” she said. “It’s not the best welcome home gift, but it’s life. We do what we have to do.”

Footfalls on the stairs made them look up.

Snow looked drawn, and James offered her his arm as they made their way out of the house together, Ruby in tow. 

“Is she going to be okay?” he asked.

Snow looked up at him bleakly. “She’s practically barricaded herself into the bathroom,” she said. “She says that as long as there’s only one way in or out, she won’t be surprised if Regina shows up.”

“Another room with no windows, no comfort, and a door with a lock,” Ruby said. She sounded on the verge of tears. “She was doing so well, too.”

“What was she like?” Emma said. “Before the line?”

Ruby breathed out quietly. “We only met once, but she was smart, and so sweet,” she said. “I liked her a lot.” She shook her head. “That doesn’t matter right now. We can’t talk about that Belle like she’s gone.” She looked at James. “Gold said you had a plan.”

James and Emma exchanged looks.

Trust Rumpelstiltskin to let them tell Ruby his plan, which meant forcing her to look at the body of a friend.

“You don’t have to do it,” James began, “but your sense of smell…”

Ruby blanched. “You want me to…” She shook her head. “James, it’s Archie…”

“We know, Ruby,” Emma said. “But we’ve hit a wall. We can try the office. Maybe there’s a smell there, something out of place. We don’t want you to have to…”

Ruby looked from one to the other. “Do you think it’ll prove anything?” she asked. “Really? If it’s not Regina, would you trust me on that?”

“Of course,” Snow said at once. “Ruby, if you can find out who did this…”

“Or didn’t,” James added. “We need answers.”

“And if it’s not Regina or Gold,” Emma said, her expression grim, “then we have a murderer to find.”


	12. Chapter 12

Rumpelstiltskin hadn't killed Regina on Belle's request, but it was something he was regretting more and more with each day that was passing. He held his distance, didn't harm her, didn't touch her, didn't even acknowledge her unless he had to, but the temptation was growing stronger.

Belle had been gathering up the fragments of herself. She had been smiling, almost verging on happy, until the revelation that Cora was on her way. Until the well, when she'd seen what he was capable. That was the first blow.

The second was when Regina was accused of killing again.

It wasn't as if it was the first time. 

Ruby had brought Belle to his shop, and she was incoherent with terror, afraid that she would be next, afraid that if Regina was capable of killing, what was to stop her taking back her prisoners and sealing them away again.

They brought her back to his home, and she had not just retreated into the room that was hers, but into the small ensuite bathroom, sitting in a shivering tangle of limbs in the furthest corner from the door. It broke his heart to see her reduced to that, and what made it worse was knowing that was how she had spent nearly three decades: in a blank-walled room with barely any light, and a door closing her off from the world.

Rumpelstiltskin wanted to find Regina, to stave her face in with his cane, to break her, but he could not and would not leave Belle, not unprotected, not feeling helpless.

The furthest he went was to the staircase, to face father and daughter, and even then, he dismissed them as promptly as he could. The wolf and the Princess were ejected just as promptly. Belle needed to feel secure, and he could grant that.

He called on old magic, blood magic, and only when it was done did he intrude on her hiding place.

He pushed the bathroom door open. "It's me, love."

Belle looked up at him. "Did they catch her?" she whispered. "Did they stop her?"

He grimaced, shaking his head. "They wanted to be sure I didn't have a part in it," he said quietly.

Her blue eyes were bloodshot and pink. "Did you?"

He wasn't offended that she asked. Saddened, yes, knowing how much he had been fighting the urge to hurt people on her behalf, but not surprised or offended. How could he be, after what she had seen at the well?

"No, love," he said, approaching her and sitting down on the edge of the bath. "You asked me not to hurt people."

She wiped her cheek with the heel of her hand. "You did the well," she whispered.

"I did," he murmured, "but I also stopped it. Because of you." He sighed, folding his hands on top of his cane. "I promised I would keep you safe, Belle, and I would do anything to keep that promise."

"I know." Her voice was small and fragile.

He looked down at her. "I've put a barrier around the house," he said. "No one will be able to enter with hostile intentions." He tried to smile, but he was so tired, tired of being helpless and useless when she needed him most. "You don't need to hide within these walls."

"Magic?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'll pay the price for it," he said. "To keep you safe."

She struggled to her feet, and twisted her hands together. "Can... can you..." She was shaking, and he knew what she was asking, even without the words being said.

He rose from the edge of the bath and gathered her in his arms. She clung to him tightly, her fingers biting into his back, and it was all he could do to drop his cane and wrap both his arms around her, stroking her hair, and gently rubbing between her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry that I scared you."

"You were keeping a promise," she whispered. She looked up at him, her eyes bright and wet. "Not in a nice way, but you were keeping it."

He lifted his hand and brushed the tears gently from her cheek. "I'm working on it," he said with a drawn smile, which earned an equally watery smile in return. "Come downstairs, love. I'll get you a cup of tea. Something soothing."

She looked warily towards the door. "You're sure it'll keep her out?"

"Absolutely," he promised.

She tucked herself against his side as they made their way downstairs, and she didn't object to his arm resting lightly around her shoulders, not even when they reached the kitchen. She kept him close as if he was her personal shield.

"Can you fetch the milk?" he asked, loosening his arm gently.

She hesitated, then nodded, moving away from him, though she was back by his side before the kettle had even started to boil. She was still shivering, and he wasn't strong enough to keep her at arm's length for her own good. He let her press against his side, her head on his shoulder, and he let himself just hold her.

For a moment, they could pretend they were both fine.

He didn't know what to say to be comforting. He wasn't good at it. It hadn't been necessary for so long that he couldn't remember what he was meant to do. 

So he made them both tea, and they sat together on the couch, and when all else failed, he offered to read to her. It was a child-like thing, to be read a story, but she curled up, her head resting on his thigh, and listened as he read.

He couldn't even remember what the book was, or even if he read it well.

It was enough for her that he was reading to her, that she was safe and taken care of, and little by little, the tension left her body. He continued to read even after she drifted into an uneasy sleep, keeping his voice a soothing murmur.

Finally, he closed the book, laying it down on the coffee table.

He looked down at her, at peace for a moment. He drew his fingers through her hair gently, wished it was as easy to undo the magic that had stolen her mind as it was to soothe her to sleep.

His eyes wandered as he lost himself in thought, trying to think of all the methods and means he had used to work through the magic of the line. He had tried undoing it, taking it apart from the inside out, casting against it, anything that could possibly work.

If it had only been possible to wrap a protection about her, as he had around the house, some kind of charm of talisman...

Rumpelstiltskin's breath caught.

Perhaps it was possible.

Something that tied her to her past, something that did not belong to the Belle of Storybrooke, but to the Belle of the forest, something significant enough to have power.

His heart thundered in his chest. 

If something with such emotional resonance could be found, something to remind her of who she was...

A pounding at the front door made Belle jolt awake with a startled gasp. 

Rumpelstiltskin steadied her with a hand at her shoulder. "It's a friend, sweetheart," he said. "It's all right. Only friends can come here." She nodded, breathing unsteadily. She didn't look convinced. "Stay here," he murmured. "I'll check, okay?"

She twisted her hands together anxiously, watching him as he crossed the floor to the hall.

The Sheriff was standing outside, a fraught look on her face. "Gold, we have a serious problem."

"We have a multitude," he said dryly. "You may have to be more specific."

She glanced around, as if expecting someone to leap out on them, then leaned closer. "What do you know about a man called Hook?"

Rumpelstiltskin's cheek twitched. That name brought back many vile memories. "I know of him."

"I bet you do," she said. "He's here. With Cora."

Rumpelstiltskin felt like the world had been pulled from beneath his feet. "How?"

"Don't know," Emma said. "Right now, I don't care. All I know is that he's gunning for you. We found his ship hidden down by the docks. Ruby sniffed them out. She found Archie. He says Cora's out for Regina and Hook is out for you. He'll be coming after Belle."

Rumpelstiltskin's hand tightened on his cane. "And why would he do that?" he snarled. "Did our little cricket chirp?"

"Yeah, how about that?" Emma snapped. "It's amazing what you'll say to get a hook out of your torso." She folded her arms and leaned closer. "What I need to know is can you keep her safe?"

"From who? Her?"

Both of them turned.

Belle was standing in the hall. She looked pale.

"Things just got complicated," Rumpelstiltskin said grimly. "Old enemies and what have you." He offered her his hand, which she took at once. "But don't you worry, love. I'm going to protect you."

"We both are," Emma said, stepping into the house. "But first off, you're going to tell us a story, Gold, about a certain Queen of Hearts and a mysterious man in black."

"And why would I do that?" Rumpelstiltskin said.

Emma folded her arms and glared at him. "Because I want to know just how screwed we are."


	13. Chapter 13

Storybrooke wasn't the safest of places at the best of times, what with the abductions and car crashes and lost children popping up all over the place, but at least then, they hadn't known why.

Now, Ruby was being reminded just why life in the Enchanted Forest was just as dangerous, if not more so.

It was bad enough that Regina was on the loose, even if she was innocent of any suspicion in Archie's so-called death. Now, there was something that was - if Snow was right - the real Evil Queen. Cora. The Queen of Hearts. Regina's mother. The woman who had killed Regina's true love and left Snow to carry the blame for decades.

Archie had been shaken when they found him, bruised and beaten, but alive. 

He was able to give them information about Cora and her ally, the pirate known as Hook. At the mention of his name, Snow and Emma exchanged looks, and Emma stalked out of the hospital ward.

"You know this Hook?" Ruby said quietly.

"We met him when we were back in our land," Snow said. "Not the nicest man."

Archie nodded with a wince. "He's looking for Gold," he said as Whale stitched a wound on his brow. "He wanted to know about his weaknesses."

"Of course he did," Snow said, running her hand over her face. "This is just what we need. Closed in a bubble with no way out, and Cora on the loose."

"At least Regina's not fighting us," Ruby said, even if it didn't sound convincing.

Snow nodded. She touched Archie's shoulder. "Get some rest, Archie," she said. "We'll need to gather the town council and try and work out what we should do about this." She squeezed his shoulder. "You did good."

Shame flooded Archie's features. "No," he said. "No, I didn't."

"Archie...?" Ruby wrapped her arms around her middle. "What do you mean?"

He looked up at her. "I thought I could stand the pain, but I couldn't," he confessed. "I-I told him about Mr Gold's girl. I knew he was protecting her, so Hook couldn't possibly get to her, but he knows she's out there."

"He already knew about her."

Snow and Ruby whirled around at the voice from the door of the ward. 

Regina was standing in the doorway. She looked pale and drawn. Ruby moved, putting herself between Regina and Archie. It wasn't as if she could protect him, not really, but the intention was there. 

"David was kind enough to come by and warn me what was going on," Regina said. "I thought you might need some information about the good Captain and..." She hesitated, looking away. "My mother."

Snow approached her, showing much more grace under the circumstances than Ruby knew she would be capable of. "He knew about Belle already?"

Regina met her eyes, nodded. "He tried to kill her once already, while she was my prisoner," she said. "He knows exactly who she is to Gold."

"Gold's got his house locked down," Ruby said, her arms tightly folded across her chest. Gold had looked ready to tear apart anyone who came near Belle after Ruby brought her back to him. "He's not about to let anyone near her, especially not an old enemy."

"Two old enemies," Regina murmured. "My mother taught me a lot, but Rumpelstiltskin taught her more."

Ruby saw the colour fade from Snow's face. If that didn't make it clear just how bad things were, then nothing would. "Rumpelstiltskin was known as a monster back in the forest," she said quietly. "Is it all true?"

Regina nodded stiffly. "Every bit of it. That girl woke something good in him, but it had been a long time dead before that."

Snow rubbed one hand over her face. "Okay," she said. "We have to think about this practically." She looked at Regina. "We know she was aiming to alienate you by having you accused of Archie's murder. She wanted you vulnerable."

"Alone," Regina said quietly. "She likes making sure everything goes her way. Like spooking a horse."

Snow drew a startled breath. "We can't let her do that," she said. "I know we've had our issues, still do, but this is bigger than us. We have people to protect. My grandson. Your son." Her hands were trembling by her sides, then she held out a hand to Regina. "Pax?"

Regina stared at the outstretched hand. "You would... trust me?"

"You saved me once," Snow said simply. "Now, I'm asking you to protect another child like you did then."

Ruby was startled to realise she was holding her breath.

Regina looked torn, almost frightened, but finally, she nodded, and placed her hand in Snow's. "I can't promise to protect the rest of you, but him, I will guard with my life."

Snow nodded. "That's all I ask," she said. "He's ours. All of ours."

Regina drew her hand back, looking at it as if it was the hand of a stranger. "Where is he?"

"Granny's looking after him at the diner," Snow replied. "We thought it would be better to leave him with someone who is armed and skilled with it."

Regina nodded. "We should get him somewhere out of the open," she said. "Mother will have eyes on town. She'll be watching for a weakness, something useful, some little opening to get her foot in the door." She smiled tightly. "That's the way she works."

Snow touched her arm, as she turned to Ruby. "You make sure Archie gets home safely," she said. she didn't seem to notice the stunned look on Regina's face at such innocent contact. "Regina and I'll get Henry and start working on defences."

"Call us," Ruby called after them. "Let us know when the town council are gathering."

Snow nodded, hurrying towards the door with Regina at her side. 

Archie watched them go. "Well, how about that," he murmured. 

Ruby looked at him. “You think that’s a good thing?” she asked.

Archie waved Whale away, pushing himself upright in the bed and swinging his legs over the side. “I think Regina’s been on her own for a very long time,” he said diplomatically. “She just needs to learn how to be around people again.”

Ruby made a noncommittal sound, remembering Snow so many years ago, hiding in the henhouse, then reduced to living in the forest as a bandit because of the price on her head. If she was willing to trust in Regina, then Ruby knew she would stand by her. She wouldn’t necessarily do it happily, but if it meant that they had another powerful ally instead of an enemy, she would hold her tongue.

She helped Archie out to the parking lot and called on a cab, sitting with him on a bench to wait for it.

“Do you think that Hook guy would really go after Belle?” she asked quietly.

Archie nodded. “He’s out for revenge in a big way,” he said. “If he can’t get to Rumpelstiltskin himself, he’ll take the next best thing.”

“Gold would kill him,” Ruby said with certainty. 

Archie was silent for a moment. “Would it make me a bad person to say I was counting on it?”

Ruby grasped his hand, squeezing it. “He was torturing you,” she said. “I wouldn’t blame you at all.”

“But it would make me a bad person,” Archie murmured. He smiled crookedly. “Old habits sometimes come back to haunt us.” He squeezed her fingers as a taxi approached. “I’m good from here. You can get back to Granny or to Belle. Wherever you’re needed.”

She watched him get up. “Kind of thinking I may be needed with you,” she said. “Archie, you did what anyone would in your place.”

“Maybe,” he said quietly. “Maybe not.” He shook his head. “Even if Gold can defend her, I shouldn’t have sold her out.”

Ruby got up. “And what would you have done instead? Died? How would that have helped anyone?” She stepped closer to him and hugged him as tightly as she could, without squeezing his newly-bound wounds. “You’re alive. You’re here. You can help us all.”

Archie drew back. “Do you believe that?”

Ruby smiled and nodded. “I know it.”


	14. Chapter 14

Mr Gold was working in the basement a lot.

Belle preferred to sit with him, especially after hearing about the woman called Cora. It was frightening to know there was magic in the world, and to know that it was being wielded by someone with no qualms or guilt about hurting people terrified her.

She had a chair tucked in the corner of the basement, so she wouldn't get in his way, and she tried her best to work on her reading, but as much as she tried not to, she found herself watching him as he worked. There was so much focus, his expression grim and fixed. He was working on finding a way to breach the line. That was his priority. If he found the magic to render the line safe, then he was a step closer to finding the magic to undo what it had done. 

He seldom smiled anyway, but now, it seemed like he had completely forgotten how.

He only remembered to eat when she did, and if she asked, he would lie beside her in the bed and let her curl against him. She didn't know if he slept. She only knew that whenever a nightmare took hold, he roused her and drove it back. They came every night, worse than ever, fears of being alone, closed away, captured again, lost. 

She didn't think he was sleeping at all. When he wasn't taking care of her, he was working, and even if Ruby came to keep her company, even when he could have rested, he didn't. He looked haggard and drawn, with shadows cutting deep beneath his eyes.

Just once, he had to leave the house.

"You can't come with me, love," he said, as he put tools into the bag. "It could be dangerous."

Belle wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, trying to keep her hands from trembling. "But you'll be in danger too."

He shook his head. "I can protect myself well enough, sweetheart," he said. He approached her, lifting his hand to brush her cheek. "If this works, then we'll be a step closer to finding a solution."

She caught his hand, holding it, warm and steady and solid, against her cheek. "And I'll be safe here?"

He traced his thumb along her cheekbone. "Safer than anywhere else in town," he promised. "You can go out onto the veranda, if you want. Get some air. Just don't go more than ten paces from the house in any direction." He searched her face. "Do you want me to call on Miss Lucas? She would keep you company."

Belle hesitated. He said the house was safe, and surely, surely, she could be brave as long as the house was safe. She closed her eyes, turning her face into his touch, trying to gather some courage. "I-I can stay," she said in a whisper. "On my own, I mean. You said it'll be safe. I'll be safe." She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I trust you."

His features creased up and for a moment, she thought he might cry. He drew her closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I won't be long," he said softly against her hair. "I'll be back as soon as I know if the experiment has worked."

Belle held him tightly, just for a moment. He was stronger and braver than she was. She could borrow that from him, just enough to let him walk out the door and leave her on her own. "Come back quickly," she whispered. "I'll be waiting."

Gold drew back, looking down at her, and for a dizzying moment, she thought he might kiss her. He didn't. He just gazed at her for a moment, then stepped back. "Don't forget," he said. "No more than ten paces from the house."

She nodded.

As soon as he walked out the door and the door shut behind him, she felt frozen on the spot. It was safe. She knew it was. He said it was, so it was true. He promised her that. Still, she retreated into the living room, dragging a chair into the corner, out of the line of sight of any of the windows or doors. Safe and small. 

It felt better to just sit there for a moment, just until she could catch her breath and steady herself. 

Little by little, the press of the silence and solitude grew easier, and she made her way through to the kitchen, making a cup of tea with shaking hands. The house was familiar. She knew it, and it felt safe, but without Gold there, it felt hollow, like a shell without a snail inside it.

She wrapped her hands around her cup and padded back towards the living room. 

"Crocodile!"

The shout from outside startled her so much that the cup slipped from her hands and bounced across the floor, splashing her feet with scalding tea. Her heart was racing again, just when she had eased it, and she felt rooted to the spot. It was a male voice, and angry. 

"Crocodile! I know you're in there! Come out and face me like a man, you coward!"

Whoever it was, they were looking for Gold.

Belle's hands balled into fists.

Brave.

She was safe here, and she could be brave and see who it was.

Leaving tea-sheened footprints on the floor, she crept to the front door and peeped out through one of the coloured panes of glass. 

The man was standing on the path outside the house. He was dressed all in black, and her breath caught when she saw that he had a hook in place of a left hand. The pirate, the one who was looking for revenge. He wanted to kill Gold. That was what Emma said, and that was what Gold agreed.

He was dangerous, and dangerous was bad. 

She retreated to the telephone as the pirate continued to shout, calling the Sheriff's station, leaving a message after the beep. 

When that was done, she drew a deep breath and reached for the door. She opened it, stepping out onto the terrace. The late-afternoon breeze was cool around her bare feet, and she stood on the sun-warmed wood, looking down at him.

The pirate stared at her, then grinned brightly. "Ah, Belle," he said. "It's been some time."

Belle didn't like him. It wasn't just his intentions towards Gold. There was something in her gut that twisted up and tightened when he spoke. She folded her arms over her chest, and glared at him, hoping she looked hostile rather than fearful. 

"You shouldn't be here," she said. 

He laughed. "Story of my life," he said, spreading his arms. "I'm a pirate, love. I go where I like, and right now, I like here."

She shook her head. "You can't come in," she said.

"So I noticed," he said, tapping at the air in front of him. There was a strange, hollow sound, like a rock hitting an empty oil drum. "Hiding behind magic, are you, crocodile?" he called, raising his voice. "Sending a little girl out to do your dirty work?"

Belle's legs were shaking beneath her, but she tried to hide it by sitting down on the top step. "He doesn't want to see you," she said. "He knows why you're here."

"Yes, I imagine he does." The pirate propped his arm against the invisible barrier, leaning against it, as if he could push through. "Does it make you feel safe, hmm? Being inside a cage with a murderer?"

Belle felt like her heart had stopped. "Murderer?"

The pirate feigned shock. "Oh? You don't know? Ask him, love. Ask him what he did to his wife. To the mother of his son." He struck the barrier again, harder, and the sound rumbled around her. "He'll kill you too, won't you, crocodile? The minute she crosses you, you'll rip her heart out!"

Belle couldn't speak. Gold was kind to her. He had threatened people and hurt people, but he had been kind to her. She didn't want to believe it was true. She didn't want to believe the pirate. She wrapped her arms tight across her middle, trembling. She wanted to rise, to go back into the house, but she was shaking and she felt sick.

An engine roared, and the pirate spun around.

The Sheriff.

Belle watched numbly as the pirate took to his heels, pursued by the squad car.

She was still sitting there when Gold returned, her hands and feet blue with cold, and he exclaimed in shock, shedding his woollen coat and bending to drape it around her. "Belle, you're cold as ice."

She looked up at him. "What happened to your wife?" she asked in a whisper. "Tell me."

The expression that crossed his face was as bad as a blow. There was shock, wariness, guilt, suspicion, fear. "Why do you ask?" he said, trying to help her to her feet. She stepped back from him. "Belle, love, what happened?"

"He was here," she said, through lips that were rebelling. "The pirate. He said you killed her."

Gold bowed his head. "He's not wrong," he said finally, quietly. "A long time ago."

Belle pulled the coat tighter around her. "Are you going to kill me?" Her voice was trembling, and she wanted to believe he was good and safe. She felt the hot burn of tears on her cheeks. "If I upset you, are you going to do that to me too?"

"Never!" He looked up, horrified. "Belle, I've changed, I promise you. I'm not the man I was then." He stepped closer, catching her hands between his. "I love you. I won't ever hurt you."

She looked down at their linked hands. It felt right and good and safe, but all she could hear were the pirate's words, beating against her brain like an echo. "I'm cold," she said in a small voice. "I want to go inside."

Gold drew his hands back. He looked devastated, but he nodded. "I'll make you something to eat," he said. "Maybe have a bath to warm up?"

Belle took that as leave to go in, and fled up the stairs, through the room and into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, and sank to sit on the floor, her hands buried in her hair. The pirate hadn't lied. Gold hadn't denied it. Could a man change that much? Could he kill one woman, then love another? She didn't know.

With trembling hands, she managed to turn on the bath and ran the water, though she didn't really want to. He would be listening for it, to be sure she was all right, so she would do it, and make believe. She was getting better at make-believe.

She bathed quickly enough to warm herself through, but it was almost an hour before she could face venturing back out of the room. The smell of food lured her out, her stomach clenching with hunger, and she padded quietly down the stairs.

She could hear voices in the living room and hesitated halfway down the stairs.

The second voice was a woman, but it wasn't familiar.

Belle sank down to sit on the stairs, easing her way down the staircase, and peered cautiously between the supports of the banister. The woman and Gold were face to face, and she was smiling quietly.

"So do you accept my offer of a truce?" she asked, looking up at him. 

He looked down at the coffee table. There was a box there, but Belle couldn't make out what was in it. Finally, he nodded, offering his hand. “Truce.”

The woman slipped her hand into his and Belle felt a shiver of discomfort run down her spine as the woman all but purred, “Let’s seal it like we used to.” It was only made worse when the woman leaned closer and kissed Gold like she had the right to.

Belle could see his face.

She could see his expression.

He looked hollowed out and shaken, even as the woman smiled.

“The directions?” she said, her hand resting on Gold’s arm. Gold lowered his head. Belle had never seen him look so broken or old.

“I’ll show you the way,” he said quietly. 

Belle shook her head silently. She didn’t know what the woman wanted, but it couldn’t be good, not at all. Even if she had come through the shield, something was wrong, very wrong, to make Gold look like that. She wanted to rise, to stop him, to stop them, but fear silenced her and she could only watch as thick purple clouds enveloped them, and they vanished.


	15. Chapter 15

"So this is him?"

David and his daughter were standing side by side, looking into the cell. The man known as Captain Hook had been arrested and de-hooked, and was currently occupying one of the two cells in the Sheriff's station. 

When they had reached Gold's house after Belle had called, the man had run, but Emma had an impressive turn of speed when hunting someone. When Hook jumped a fence, Emma leapt out the car and was up and over the fence before David had even undone his seatbelt. 

By the time he caught up with them, halfway down an alley, Emma had Hook pinned facedown on the ground and had lashed his forearms so she could remove his hook. It seemed he had learned enough from their earlier encounters to know not to struggle.

"In the horndog flesh," Emma said.

Hook was safely closed up in a cell, reduced down to his shirt and breeches. He sprawled back against the wall, spreading his legs, a smirk on his lips. "So you've been paying attention, eh?" he said.

David's teeth clenched together in fury. 

Snow had warned him about the man and his unseemly behaviour. He knew how to rile people, and David knew it was entirely for his benefit.

Emma didn't seem fazed by it at all. She leaned against the cell bars, smiling serenely in at their prisoner. "You're the one in the cage, buddy," she said. "You've already got a list of charges against you a mile long, and I don't have to be worried about sending you out of town, since you were never under the curse." She tilted her head, watching him. "I'm sure we could ship you to to a jail where I'm sure you'd be real welcome."

Hook's smile remained. "Well, if all my wardens are like you, Swan..."

Emma shook her head. "Trust me, Hook, jails in this world would make the Enchanted forest look like a trip to the park," she said. "And believe me when I say I'm speaking from experience." She propped her arm on the crossbar. "You've got a choice. You can do this the easy way, or you can be some big thug's bitch in county. It's up to you."

The pirate was still, silent, watching her, and for a moment, the smile flickered and vanished. David glanced at his daughter. She looked so like Snow, and smiled so kindly, but then, she would be like this, strong and unyielding and hard as dragon-hide.

Hook rose from the bunk. "This is between us, Swan," he said grimly. "Get rid of your guard dog and we can talk."

David bristled. "You don't get to give my daughter orders, mate," he said darkly.

Hook looked at him and a small twist of a smile returned. "Oh, so this is daddy dearest, is it?" he said. "You must be so proud of your little girl. I saw that boy of hers." The turn of his smile turned dark. "She started young, didn't she? Bet she was a goer."

David would have reached through the bars and hit him, if it wasn't for Emma's hand on his arm, pulling him back from the bars. She met his eyes, shook her head. 

"You hit him, I have to arrest you too," she said quietly. "You can't beat up a prisoner, even if he is an asshole."

Hook smirked at him, spreading his arms and bowing mockingly. 

David's hands twitched by his sides. "He has no right to say that about you," he said in a low voice. "You can't let him talk about you like that."

Emma's hand was warm and firm on his arm. "I've been called a hell of a lot worse," she said, never realising that it wasn't the comfort she believed it to be. She hadn't told him much about her life, but in the quiet times in the night, Snow whispered what she knew, and it hurt like hell that they had put her through that. Emma lowered her voice. "Let me talk to him. See if I can get some information."

David looked over at the man in the cell. The pirate was still smiling smugly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I don't trust him," he said quietly. "He doesn't strike me as the type to be honest about anything."

"I know," Emma replied, her voice just as soft. She squeezed his arm. "But trust me."

David looked down at her hand, then covered it with his own. "I can do that," he said. One side of his mouth curved up. "You're wearing the same look as your mother used to in war councils, when she wanted to get her own way."

The smile that crossed Emma's face was tiny, cautious. "Am I going to get it? My own way?"

She looked so young, and he wished it was an appropriate time to hug her and let her know that she was probably going to be able to get anything she wanted for the next twenty years at least. 

"Just this once," he said, squeezing her hand. "You go and interrogate him, and I'll stand over here and glare at him. It'll make me feel better about not hitting him for disrespecting you."

She looked surprised by his words, but pleased too. "No matter what you see," she said, her voice back at a more normal volume. "Stay here. I can handle him."

"That's what I've heard," Hook's voice cut in.

David ground his teeth and Emma gave him a brief, rueful smile.

"I'll deal with this," she said, drawing her hand from his.

She was tough, his little girl. Tough and unafraid in the face of a man who was crude and lecherous and cruel. She walked back to the cell, a true Sheriff, all resolve and strength, and didn't flinch from the man's crudities.

David could see the pirate was smirking and smiling and taunting her, but she didn't rise to the bait. He couldn't hear what was being said, and folded his arms over his chest to keep from hitting something in the pirate's place. 

He wished he could hear what was being said, but he saw the moment the smile faded from the pirate's face. Hook's expression turned grim, wary, even hostile, and he paced about the confines of his cell, shaking his head and speaking in angry, low tones. 

Emma remained standing where she was.

Finally, the pirate came close to the bars and spoke in a low voice to her. Emma was motionless. David couldn't make out her expression, but he saw her nod. The pirate glared at her, then sprawled down onto the bunk.

Emma turned and strode back to David.

"We need to get back to the ship," she said abruptly. "He doesn't know where Cora is. She had her own end-game. But he says there are some things of her on the ship that she'll want, and if we get them before she knows he's been taken, we may be able to work out what she's up to."

David looked beyond her at the pirate, who was sullenly glowering at them from his cell. "Can he be left here?"

"We don't really have a choice," Emma admitted. "I'd prefer to leave him here and stop Cora than babysit him and leave her on the loose." 

"I could go to the ship myself," David offered.

Emma's expression was set and she shook her head. "I'm definitely not about to let anyone go solo against her," she said. "The woman is too dangerous. I know she can't take me, but I'm not about to risk my family's safety."

David tried to crush down the smile that rose at her words. He had no idea how strange it must be for her, trying to process the fact that he was her father. They'd had so little time together, and now, here, she was trying to protect him.

The door of the office creaked, pushed open, and David and Emma both turned.

Gold was standing there. 

His features were drawn and he looked ancient and terrible.

He stared across the office at the cell, and the pirate rose, staring back with similar loathing. The bleak fury in Gold's features was enough to make David move towards him, catching his arm, to stop him when he moved towards the cell. 

Gold bared his teeth. "Unhand me."

"Not when you look like you're about to kill someone."

"Oh, it's that obvious, is it?" Gold said sharply, but there was a brittleness in his voice. He jerked his arm free. "I made a promise that I - unfortunately - intend to keep. He'll live. For now." 

Emma approached them, keeping her voice low. "What are you doing here, Gold?"

Gold looked at her, with a strange, fearful hunger in his eyes. "You owe me a favour, Miss Swan, and I believe it's time for me to call in my debts."

"Now?" Emma said in disbelief. "Cora's on the loose, we have a rogue pirate in custody, and now, you're making a big deal about a favour?"

Gold folded one hand over the other on the handle of his cane. His lips trembled, and for a moment, he looked as fragile as he had in the moments after Belle's memories were wiped. "If I stay in town," he said tautly, "you will be dealing with something far worse than Cora could ever hope to be." He raised his eyes to Emma. "Believe me, Miss Swan, that's the last thing any of us want."

"You?" Emma said. She didn't sound worried, but she looked it. David had no doubt that she'd heard enough stories of how bad Rumpelstiltskin could be.

Gold's hands tensed on his cane. "Belle's father is alive because of her. Regina too. And now, that cretin you have in the cage," he said. "They took Belle as she was, and shattered her. I have stayed my hand for her sake, but it's getting... very difficult to remind myself why."

"What's happened, Gold?" David asked quietly. 

Gold averted his eyes. "I think it's safe to say that Belle would prefer if I was at a distance for the time being," he said finally. "Someone has been pouring poison into her ear." He drew a breath, as if steadying himself. "I need to be elsewhere. I made her a promise, and if I have to see her look at me the way she did, I can't promise I can keep it."

Emma glanced at David, who nodded. "Okay," she said. "Let's say we go. Where are we going?"

Gold swallowed hard and lifted his head. He looked his true age for the first time in David's memory. "We're going to find my son," he said.

"You have a son?" David said.

"Had," Gold said tersely. "A long time ago."

Emma asked, "And where is he?"

Gold looked at her. "Across the line, Sheriff," he said. "I need you to take me into your world." His voice trembled, barely under his control. "I need you to help me."


	16. Chapter 16

Rumpelstiltskin stood on the step of his house.

He knew he had to go back in, but over and over, he was replaying his last encounter with Belle in his head. 

In his experiments with magic, he had found the key to crossing the line. He had gone to test it, and made the mistake of leaving Belle utterly along in the house. She was there when the pirate came calling. She knew what he had done to Milah. She had come to him in trust, and opened the wrong door to discover she was living with a Bluebeard. 

When he returned, she had backed away from him, afraid of him, and that was not a look he had ever wanted to see on Belle's face.

As if that hadn't been bad enough, she locked herself away in the bathroom again, and though he held out hopes she would come down for food, she had not emerged. Perhaps it was fortunate she hadn't. It meant she wasn't there to see the moment that Cora breached his wards and entered the house uninvited.

The only saving grace was that if Cora had ill-intent, she would have been blocked without question. He didn't trust her as far as he curse her, but sometimes, when the world seemed to be falling apart, a familiar port in a storm sometimes felt like a blessing. Even if it was a vile and repellent witch of a woman. 

He thought they were true enemies.

Instead, she came to him with a deal: directions to her daughter in exchange for a guide to his son.

As terrible as she was, as much as Regina did not need her mother's presence, the thought of at least reaching out to his son, now that Belle was slipping through his fingers once more, was a flicker of hope that he had to hold on to. How could he refuse?

He did not know where Regina was, but he took Cora as far as he house, and by the time he returned to his home, Belle had darted down the stairs, stolen some little amount of food, and retreated back into the bedroom that was her sanctuary. He hadn't dared to knock, to see if she was all right, to excuse himself, because there was no excusing what he had done.

So he took Cora's gift, he took his own blood, and his heart raced as he saw just where his son was.

Belle needed time. She needed to feel safe. She needed people who would protect her and not be the monster he knew himself to be. He would go, he would find Bae, and maybe, maybe, that little time, that little distance, would be enough to comfort her.

It would be enough, certainly, to stay his hand and keep him from unleashing hell on those who had done her wrong. He wanted to lash out. Every part of him was screaming for it, but she did not want anyone to be hurt, and for her, he would not hurt anyone, even if it meant hurting himself by leaving her behind for a time.

For her, he would go against all the instincts gathered over three centuries of survival.

Miss Swan was an unfortunate necessity. The world outside Storybrooke was different and large, and he knew there was little chance of navigating it himself. He made his demands - never a request - and with the thought of streets running with blood running in their minds, Sheriff Swan and her father complied. 

And now, he was standing on the step of his own house, unable to face entering.

He wasn't sure what scared him more: her absence or the look on her face if she was present.

He swallowed hard and opened the door, pushing it open. Ruby would be there, he knew, because he had asked her to come and stay with Belle while he dealt with matters, but Belle...

He closed the door behind him, listening in the silence. 

No girlish chatter. No clattering of dishes. 

Terror closed around his heart and he limped rapidly towards the kitchen, pushing the door wide.

Belle was sitting at the table, alone, and turned to look at him. She was pale with deep shadows beneath her eyes, but to his surprise, she set down the cup she was holding, walked across the floor, and put her arms around him.   
His cane fell from his hand and his arms were around her before he could stop them. "I'm sorry, love," he whispered, his fingers buried in her hair, holding her close as tightly as he dared. "I didn't want to frighten you."

"I know," she said quietly. Her cheek was resting against his shoulder. "I saw that woman. The one who came in."

Rumpelstiltskin drew back, looking down at her, a knot tensing in his gut. "You did?"

She nodded, searching his face. "Was that her? Cora?"

"She didn't mean any harm," he said. "At least for now." He lifted his hand to gently touch her cheek. "I didn't think I was going to see you down here."

She smiled unsteadily, uncertainly, her eyes so clear and bright and brave. "You looked like you needed someone to be strong for you," she said. "Like you were strong for me. I-I know I'm not much, but I can try." 

Rumpelstiltskin felt a lump rise in his throat. "Oh, sweetheart," he whispered, drawing her closer and hugging her. 

"Was I right?" she asked in a whisper. "Was I?"

He could barely speak, could only nod. Her arms tightened around him, holding him fast, and he wondered how she could ever have thought that he was strong. She was always the stronger of the two of them, always had been, always would be. 

Somehow, they got from the kitchen to the living room and the couch and she curled tight against him, holding him as close as he was holding her. His hand stroked across her hair, trembling, and he was almost certain his face was wet.

He couldn't say how long they sat there, but he knew such a fragile respite could not last, not with so many enemies beating at the walls, not when he knew his son was so close, and that he could have some manner of peace, some manner of closure at long last.

"Belle," he said, his voice cracked like a scratched record. "I-I need to go out of town. I think I have a way to find my son."

She straightened up to look at him. She didn't look afraid. That was the first thing he noticed. She didn't look afraid. She looked as happy for him now as she had for him then. "You found him?"

He nodded haltingly. "I think so."

"And you can leave?" She leaned into him, enthralled, excited even. "Without losing yourself? You'll be able to go as yourself?"

This time, he could smile, though it was a frail and shaking thing. "I found a way, and once I know it works, once I find him, once it's done, I can find a way to bring you back to yourself too. If the magic works to protect me from losing my memories, it may be a way to bring back yours."

One of her hands sought his, her fingers threading between his. She watched their fingers lacing together, and looked up at him, her expression hopeful. "Can I go with you?"

If he hadn't been terrified of driving her back, he would have kissed her. Instead, all he could do was let the ball of his thumb circle hers, their fingers already so tangled together that he could almost believe they would never be parted.

"It's a big world," he warned, "one I don't know."

She gazed at him, so bright-eyed and knowing. "Are you afraid?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"Then I'm going with you."

"Belle," he whispered. 

She lifted her other hand to brush her fingers so softly against his cheek that he could barely feel them. He closed his eyes, tilting his head into her touch. "I love you," she said quietly. "Even if you did bad things in the past, I know you're doing better now." 

Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes to look at her. "I'm still a monster," he whispered. "Sometimes, I want to hurt the people who hurt you."

She leaned closer and, as soft as a breath of wind, her lips brushed over his. "You're better than that," she whispered. "I know you are."

He didn't know if he would ever believe her. Even when she was Belle as he knew her, he found it impossible to understand what she saw in him with the clamour of three centuries of accumulated memory bearing down on him, but when she - this new and other Belle who saw that same good in him too - kissed him again, softly, chastely, he wanted to try.


	17. Chapter 17

Ruby was worried. 

Gold had called her over to look after Belle while he was out, and mentioned something about the pirate paying a visit. Belle was quieter than usual and withdrawn, and when asked, simply avoided answering any questions. She hadn't said much, and before Gold returned, she insisted - gently and firmly - that Ruby could leave.

Ruby didn't immediately want to leave, especially not with the bleak look on Gold's face, but Belle all but ushered her out the door, insisting that she was all right, they were all right, and she just wanted some time alone to think things through.

Both Belle and Gold had been wearing haunted, lost looks. 

Something had gone wrong between them. Something bad. Something worse than him almost killing Snow and Emma.

And so, Ruby was worried.

She called his cellphone to let him know, but got no reply.

She returned to the diner to find Granny sitting at the counter, polishing her crossbow. There were no customers. It seemed that news of Cora and Hook had got around, enough for people to take cover and avoid public areas.

"Any news?"

Granny shook her head, hefting the crossbow off the counter. "Snow and Regina took Henry somewhere safe," she said. "My guess is that they holed up in Snow's loft. It's more defensible. Harder to bust into." Ruby turned to go, but Granny caught her arm. "Be careful, girl," she said. "We might be being watched."

Ruby nodded. "I'll go see David and Emma instead."

"They'll be at the station," Granny said. "They headed back this way an hour ago."

Ruby headed back out into the street, sniffing at the air. If Cora was close, Ruby knew she'd recognise the scent. It was the scent that had been all over the body they thought was Archie's. There were traces on the ship down at the docks as well, but not as strong. Wherever the witch was, she wasn't nearby.

The streets were deserted, and Ruby hurried onwards, almost colliding with Emma and David as they emerged from the Sheriff's office, looking harried.

"What's going on? Where are you going?"

"Apparently," Emma said dryly, "I'm going on a little field trip with Mr Gold."

"Long story," David added, "Don't ask." He paused, looking at Emma. "We could take care of the ship. You go. Get packed and on your way."

"And leave trouble where he is?" Emma nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

"You caught him?" Ruby said.

"Caught and locked up," Emma agreed. She looked up at her father. "David, be careful down there. She might be around."

"Don't worry, Emma," Ruby said at once. "If she's nearby, I'll be able to smell her."

Emma's lips quirked wryly. "That's a party trick I'm glad I don't have," she said. She touched her father's arm. "Gold said he'll pick us up in an hour. We'll call you once we're there, when I know what's going on." She hesitated, then added, "Be careful?"

"I always am."

Emma snorted. "I find that hard to believe," she said. 

David's own smile was just as bittersweet as Emma's. "What can I say? We're a consistant family." He jerked his head in the direction of Mary Margaret's apartment. "You go. We'll find what we need on the ship."

Emma took off in one direction, and they headed in the other. 

"So Mr Gold is leaving town?" Ruby asked quietly. "How?"

David shook his head. "I don't know, and he wasn't in the mood to answer if I asked," he said. 

"Maybe that's why Belle isn't happy," Ruby murmured.

David glanced sidelong at her. "I don't know," he said. "From the sounds of it, Hook might have said something to upset her as well." He grimaced. "He does seem to have a way with words, especially words that make you want to punch him."

"At least he's locked up now," Ruby said. "That's something." 

David nodded. "And we have his ship and everything on it."

"Which includes Cora's stuff?" Ruby guessed.

"And then some," David said. "Hook told Emma there's something there that might tell us what she's up to."

Ruby glanced back suspiciously towards the jail. "Right." 

They reached the docks, and found the ship thanks to the red flag marking the dock. Ruby caught the scent on the air, shifting from one foot to the other. "Wait," she murmured. She moved this way and that, then nodded. "We're good to go. It's not any stronger than it was last time we were here."

They made their way on board, the ship rolling gently on the tide. 

"Do you know what we're looking for?"

David shook his head. "Anything that might tell us what she's planning," he said. "Anything that might be useful to her. A weapon. Something." He looked at her hopefully. "Can you sniff her out here? See if you can find what was hers?"

"On it," Ruby agreed, hurrying down into the hold.

At first, everything was as she expected. Archie's scent and fear clung to the walls, and other scents, similar, fainter, lingered. There were chests of gold, trinkets, goblets, all the typical pirate treasures that she expected to see.

It wasn't until she moved into the smaller cabins that the scent changed. She pushed open the final door cautiously then hissed through her teeth. The first thing that struck her was the strength of the scent. It was stronger than it had been above, and it was fresher. 

Ruby felt like her hackles were rising, and she searched the shadows, her fingers flexing by her sides. The cabin was completely empty. There was no sign of any weapons or magic or possessions.

"She's been here!" she called up to David. "I don't know how long ago, but since we found Archie. The scent's stronger." She scrambled up the ladder. "She must have used magic to transport herself here. Whatever there was down there, it's gone now."

"Damn it," David said, running a hand over his face. "We're always one step behind."

"At least we've got the pirate," Ruby said, "and Emma and Henry are both safe with Mr Gold."

"If he can get across the line without losing his memories," David corrected. "We don't even know if he's been able to do that. Or if he would even let Henry go with them." He rubbed at his eyes. "We should get back to town, find out if they've definitely made it out."

"And maybe, you should get some rest," Ruby suggested. "You look like you haven't stopped in days."

"Could be because I haven't," he said, though he didn't meet her eyes. He'd been under the sleeping curse, Ruby remembered. She remembered how ill Snow was for days after she woke up, the nightmares that came thick and fast. He must have noticed the worried look on her face, because he shook his head. "We can't worry about that now. We have Cora to deal with."

"If you say so," she said quietly, falling into step behind him.

They headed back to the loft and were greeted by agitated voices.

"I can't believe we let him just leave town!"

"I know," Snow sounded exhausted. "but you know this way he'll be safe."

"Safe. With Rumpelstiltskin."

David entered the apartment. "Regina, he made a deal that nothing would happen to our family," he said. "You know how seriously he takes his deals."

Ruby edged into the room behind David. Regina was standing by the window, her arms tightly crossed across her chest, as if she was restraining herself from going after Gold and Henry herself. 

"You'll forgive me if I'm not quite as trusting in that man," she said. "I know exactly what he's capable of." She looked around at Snow. "If anything happens to Henry, anything at all, I can't promise you anything."

Snow nodded. "I know," she said again, quietly. "But I'm not any happier about this than you are. It's not just your child that has gone. It's mine as well." Her voice trembled. "And I only just got her back."

Regina's features were tense, but she nodded slowly. Her fingers were biting into her upper arms. "Did you find anything? On the ship? Miss Swan said you were going to look."

David shook his head grimly. "It looks like she went and cleared the hold out," he said. "Anything she might have left behind was gone."

Regina sank down to sit in the nearest chair. "So what do we do?"

"We find a weakness," Snow said, approaching and sitting down opposite her. "She's powerful, but everyone has a weakness. We just need to find hers. We need to stop her."

Regina looked up. She looked frailer, younger. "Are you going to kill her?"

Mary Margaret hesitated. "If she gives us no other choice," she said, "I think we'll have to."

"She's still my mother," Regina whispered.

"And my father was still my father," Snow replied just as quietly. "If we can find another way to stop her, we'll try not to kill her, but you know your mother, Regina. She doesn't hold back. She doesn't care who she hurts."

Regina looked down at her hands, clasped tightly together in her lap. "Hook brought her here," she said finally. "If anyone knows anything at all, it'll be him. She might have taken her possessions, but he knows what was there."

"Do you think you can make him talk?" Snow asked, looking up at David.

David smiled grimly. "I'm willing to give it a try," he said. "You want to come?"

Snow shook her head. "Take Ruby," she said. "Get as much out of him by fear as you can, both of you."

Ruby's lips drew back in a grin. "Play the wolf card?" she said. "That tends to scare people into shutting up usually."

"Work with what you have," Snow said. She rose. "We'll be here. Emma said she'd call as soon as they knew where they were going, just to keep us up to date."

"Snow, do you know if Belle..."

"Went with them," Snow replied. 

Ruby breathed out in relief. "Good," she said. She nudged David. "You ready to go scare a pirate?"

David nodded, his smile frightening. "Looking forward to it."


	18. Chapter 18

Belle could not remember ever leaving Storybrooke before.

No one in town had, or so Henry told her, because of the curse.

The town was falling behind rapidly, and it felt like she was going on an adventure, like the ones in the books she had learned to read all over again. It was strange, though, that the people in the books were always so excited and not a little bit afraid of adventures. She couldn't remember ever being more scared in her life. 

She was just relieved that she wasn't the only one who was nervous. 

In the car, she sat in the back seat with Henry, and he held her hand tightly, reassuringly, as they came near the line. She knew they were all watching Mr Gold. If he forgot, if his magic didn't work, then everything would have been for nothing.

They crossed the line and a blue shimmer seemed to surround him. Belle shivered uncertainly. It looked unnatural, strange, wrong, and he closed his eyes against it, just for a moment, and then it was gone. 

"Did it work?" Emma asked. She was in the passenger seat, and watching him warily.

He inclined his head. "My name is Rumpelstiltskin," he said quietly, fixing his eyes on the road ahead, "and we're going to find my son."

He made it sound so simple, but Belle could see better than anyone how nervous he was. He was good at hiding it, but she could see the tremor in his hands, the way his face went a little paler, and when they got to the airport, the stark terror at the thought of removing the magical cloth he had draped around his shoulders.

Belle drew away from Henry, offering him her hand. "We'll go through together," she said quietly.

He looked at her, and the fear in his eyes made her hold his hand tighter. "If I forget..."

"You won't," Emma said, close by them. She sounded confident, surer than Belle felt herself. "I won't let that happen."

Mr Gold looked between them, then nodded. He clasped Belle's hand for support and reassurance, as he set aside his stick. She held his arm with her other hand, helping him through the security gates as Emma quickly tossed the shawl into a basket it and pushed it into the scanning machine.

Mr Gold swayed against Belle, and she looked at him anxiously, searching his pale face. 

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head, leaning heavily on her, and she looked urgently at Emma, who darted through the gate after them. She snatched the shawl the second it came through the machine, draping it back around Gold's shoulders.

"All better," Belle whispered, stroking the back of his hand with her fingertips. "You'll be fine." He was breathing raggedly and she rested her brow against his, just letting him steady himself. "You'll be fine," she said again, softly.

"Thank you," he breathed, so softly she barely heard him.

He only released her hand to put his jacket back on, and even in the waiting lounge, he sat by her, his fingers tangled in hers. He was cold, and she could feel him trembling. He was trying his best not to show it, though he was snapping every time Emma or Henry tried to speak to him.

Emma was worried, that much was obvious. Ruby said that Mr Gold was known for being calm and confident, no matter what he was doing. He wasn't now. He really wasn't, and it must have seemed so strange to Emma, who was used to the way he normally was.

Every so often, she would come over to check on them, but Belle shook her head at Emma. He didn't need to be asked if he was okay. He didn't need to be reminded that he wasn't. She settled closer to him, wishing the metal chairs didn't have such rigid arms between them, her shoulder resting against his.

"I think it'll be exciting to see New York," she murmured. "I want to see if it's like it is in those movies Ruby showed me."

"It'll be large," he said tersely. "Large and noisy and busy."

She stroked the back of his hand gently. "Everywhere outside Storybrooke is," She said. "It's frightening, seeing a world this big." She rested her head against his shoulder. "I remember walls. So many years of walls, and it all keeps getting bigger and bigger."

His cheek pressed to her hair. "How can you be so brave?" he asked in a whisper, his voice almost plaintive. 

Her hands closed warmly about his. "Because you're here with me," she confided. 

He drew back, sitting up to look down at her, disbelief written all over his face. "I'm not a good example, love."

"You're here, in a world you don't know too," she said with a small smile. "We can be scared together."

His eyes were bright and wet and he lifted his other hand to cradle her face. "You're the bravest person I know, Belle," he said so quietly it was barely a whisper. She sighed softly, tilting her head into his palm. "Thank you for being here."

There was nothing she could say to that. She just leaned closer to him again, and held his hand snugly between her own. He overlaid his other hand on top of them both, a tangle of nervous fingers, holding onto someone to keep the fear at bay.

When they were called to board, Emma came alongside Belle as Gold handed over the paperwork to be checked.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

Belle looked at him and nodded. "I think so," she said quietly. Maybe she did look like she was braver, because Emma seemed to think she was fine. Even when they boarded, when the plane felt closed in and suffocating, all metal all around them, she didn't let it show. She smiled for Mr Gold's sake, as they took a seat across the aisle from Emma and Henry, and if her hands shook as she did up her belt, she could ignore it.

Do the brave thing, she told herself, and maybe she might actually feel as brave as she pretended to be.

The one comfort she took was that Mr Gold was holding her hand as tightly as she was holding his as the plane started to move. She felt sick with discomfort and closed her eyes tight against the sensation of being pressed back in her seat. 

It was easier, then they were in the air. 

She glanced across the aisle at Emma and Henry. Henry had his nose pressed to the window, and was pointing out features in the landscape far below to his mother. Belle was secretly relieved she couldn't see out the window. The sense of claustrophobia was bad enough, but the idea of seeing how far they could fall if something went wrong was terrifying. 

"I don't like this," she confided to Mr Gold, who nodded. 

"Taking the car would have been better," he acknowledged, his own breathing slowly and steady, but only by willpower. 

She kept her face turned in from the windows. "Can we just walk somewhere when we get there? Somewhere without walls? And with ground?"

"As soon as we set foot on the ground," he agreed, clasping both of her hands in his own.

He was as good as his word. 

As soon as they got out of the airport, they took a cab and stopped in a park for her, the biggest park she had ever seen. For half an hour, they just walked, and she held tightly to his hand, glad to be back in the air and under the sky and not closed up.

It was big, though, so big, that it made her breath catch and her legs shake as it felt like the sheer bigness of it was pressing down on her. It took all her courage to keep walking. Storybrooke had been vast enough after years inside four white walls and this place...

She knew she would have nightmares about so much space for a long time to come, but she held his hand, she smiled, and they walked. The smell of trees, the crunch of broken twigs underfoot, the sound of birds all made it easier. 

Henry had a hotdog from a hotdog stand as they walked, and Emma watched all three of them like a broody mother hen. 

"We should go," Belle finally said. Mr Gold shivered. He was afraid more of seeing his son than of all the distance they had come, but if she was there, if she could give him strength, then she would do so. "Do you know where?"

Mr Gold nodded. "Hail a cab," he told Emma quietly.

The building they arrived at was nondescript, just another towering block in hundreds that all looked the same. Belle spent the ride curled close against Mr Gold, but whether for his comfort or her own, she wasn't sure.

"You're sure this is the place?" Emma said as they entered the lobby.

Mr Gold nodded. "I'm sure." He gazed at the array of buttons and buzzers. "One of these apartments."

"We could just press all of 'em," Henry suggested. "Someone'll let us in."

"No," Emma said, reaching out and tapping a blank label. "This one. If he's on the run, he wouldn't want anyone to know who he was or where."

Mr Gold stared at the button, and Belle squeezed his hand. "Yes," he said, looking at Emma.

She pressed the buzzer.


	19. Chapter 19

David was furious.

The pirate had escaped in their absence, and as additional insult, he left his lock pick sticking out of the keyhole of the cell door to let them see just what they had forgotten to check him for. David didn't even need to say anything to Ruby.

She ran into the cell, sniffing out his scent.

"At least we know he didn't just get tugged out of here by magic," she said. "There's a trail."

"Can you find him?"

"As long as he didn't fall through some magical portal, yes," she growled, loping out of the station so fast that he had to run to keep up with her. It was close to the full moon, he remembered, and watching the way she ran, she seemed more predator than woman.

She was fast, and he only managed to catch up when she stopped, closing her eyes and searching for a fresh scent. By the time he realised which way they were heading, he knew she wasn't depending on her wolf senses anymore: the scent of the sea was washing over them, stronger than anything.

"His ship," David panted out. 

Ruby nodded, running onward with another burst of speed that left David trailing behind her. She stooped as she ran, grabbing a handful of gravel, and when she reached the dock, she hurled it with all of her strength. Some of the gravel splashed in the water, but the furthest flung parts rattled off the concealed ship.

"He's on the move!" Ruby called back over her shoulder. 

There were dozens of boats in the dock, and she leapt into one of the closest, a little motorboat, unlooping the rope from the dock.

"You know how to work a boat?" David demanded, scrambling down behind her.

"No better time to find out," Ruby said grimly, grabbing the ripcord and pulling. The engine sputtered to life, and she grabbed the wheel. It took three attempts before they made it out into the open water, and she searched the surface. "There!"

The ship might have been concealed, but the wake wasn't, thick and foaming.

Ruby's hands ran over the controls, and the boat roared into the open sea. The wind whipped her hair around her face and David fell into one of the benches that lined the boat.

"How are you doing that?" he yelled over the rumble of the engine.

"Billy!" Ruby called back. "He taught me."

David hung on grimly as they burst out into the waves, spray flying up and soaking them both. “There!” he called, pointing onwards, and Ruby jerked the wheel around. His stomach flipped and he was glad he hadn’t had a chance to get lunch.

From somewhere ahead of them, there was the deafening explosion.

David dove forward and grabbed the steering wheel, dragging the boat sharply left, almost capsizing them. A canon ball hit the water where they had been a moment earlier, carving spray up from the waves. 

They managed to dodge two more blasts, but the ship was almost out of range.

Ruby pushed her hair back from her face. "I don't think we can catch up."

"We have to let him go!" David yelled back. "The town line extends out here too!"

Ruby bared her teeth, but nodded. She grabbed the wheel, steering them back in the direction of the docks. David stood at the back of the boat, watching the wake fade to nothing, as the pirate's ship crossed out of Storybrooke waters and into the real world.

"D'you think crossing the line will have an affect on him?" Ruby asked, scrambling up onto the dock and tying the boat up securely.

David accepted her offered hand and hauled himself up onto the deck. "I doubt it," he said. "He was never cursed before he came to Storybrooke, so he hasn't got any other identity to revert to." He wiped his spray-damped face with his hand. "If he's leaving, Cora might be with him."

"You really think so?"

He shook his head grimly. "Emma said that his target was always Gold, and he knew Gold left Storybrooke," he said. "Cora wasn't looking for revenge. She was looking for Regina." He pulled out his cell, dialling his daughter's number, but there was no reply. It went to voicemail. "Hey, Emma. It's David. We may have a problem. Hook got out of Storybrooke on his ship. Just keep your eyes open. I'll call you if there's any other news."

Ruby was pulling her hair back in a tight knot. "You want me to start looking for Cora?" she asked. "It'll be tricky, but there are only so many places she could be hiding."

David paced along the edge of the dock. Cora was by far more dangerous than Hook, especially given her use of dark magic. "I don't know if that's a good idea," he said. "She's ruthless, and I don't want anyone to put themselves in any danger."

"We'll all be in danger if we don't find her," Ruby argued. "If she's bad enough to scare Rumpelstiltskin and Regina, then we need to know where she is."

David fingered the holster of his gun distractedly, then nodded. "Be careful," he said. "I'll get back to Snow and Regina, see if they've come up with anything." He held up his hand before Ruby could take off. "Check in with us every hour. Just in case."

She nodded, hurrying away.

David headed back in the direction of the apartment.

To his relief, Snow and Regina seemed to be being civil at least. 

Regina had books laid out in front of them, spell books and magic tomes, the very sight of which made David's skin crawl. He had always hated magic, even more so because of all of the curses thrown at him and Snow for years. It felt wrong to see Snow leafing through the books.

"Anything?" he asked, approaching the table.

"We're not sure," Snow said.

Regina's head was in her hands. "Her power was always strongest when it came to hearts," she said. "She used them to control people." A shiver ran through her and she pushed back from the table, rising on unsteady legs. "We need a way to stop her taking hearts."

"It can't be that simple," David said quietly. "Without Rumpelstiltskin here, how can we do that?"

Regina shook her head, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. "She's too powerful," she whispered.

Snow was still looking through the books. "What about her heart?" she asked suddenly. "Is it possible to take her heart?"

Regina hesitated. "I sent Hook after her," she confessed, "to take her heart. I thought he'd succeeded, but if he didn't..." She shook her head, as if she had realised something.

"Maybe he couldn't take it," Snow said quietly.

"I enchanted his hook to take a single heart," Regina said. "There's no reason he couldn't take it."

"Unless," Snow said, "it wasn't there." She looked up from the books. "He was able to take Aurora's heart when we were in the old land, so we know the enchantment worked, but if he was as close to Cora as he was, and he didn't take hers..."

Regina looked ill. 

David looked between them. "Is that even possible?"

"Love is weakness," Regina whispered, as if repeating a lesson long-learned. "But power remains." She looked around from the window. "If you wanted to take away any chance of human weakness, it would be possible. I-I don't know what that could do to a person, holding their own heart."

"Make them ruthless," Snow said quietly. "You would be able to control your emotions completely. Or stop them completely."

Regina's arms tightened around herself. "No weakness," she whispered. "No love."

"So we find her heart," Snow said, rising. "Regina, if we find her heart, if we put it back where it should be..."

For a moment, the woman that David knew as the Evil Queen looked like a lost child. "I could have a real mother."


	20. Chapter 20

Baelfire ran.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t wholly surprised. Not after everything that had happened. Not after he let his son slip through his fingers. Swan went after him, leaving him alone with Henry and Belle. Belle’s hand was tight around his and she held fast.

“Can we stay inside?” she asked in a small voice.

When he looked at her, she was almost as pale as she had been on the plane. “Too much?” he asked quietly.

She nodded uneasily, looking back out towards the busy street. 

After Storybrooke, New York was terrifying in its scale, and he had to admit he knew how she was feeling. 

“Maybe we could wait in the café across the street?” Henry suggested. “That way we’re inside and we can watch for Emma coming back with Baelfire?”

“Clever boy,” Rumpelstiltskin murmured.

It took them a few moments to get across the street. There was a table at the window, and Henry immediately made a beeline for it. Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t surprised when Belle stayed with him to go to the counter. She was breathing unsteadily, and he wondered just how much he had overlooked, lost in his own fear of what might happen.

“Tea?” he suggested.

She nodded. “Please.” Her voice sounded frail, small. 

It took some navigating to get them and their drinks to the window. Henry was kneeling up on his seat, looking out into the street, but Rumpelstiltskin’s attention was on Belle. She was looking anywhere but the window, her eyes down and her hands shaking around her teacup.

He moved his chair closer to hers. “It’s going to be all right,” he said quietly. 

For her, at least, it would be. He had made that promise, and he would not go back on it. He tried to put thoughts of Bae to one side, at least until Swan returned with him. Belle needed him now, and he put his arm around her, letting her lean into him.

“Don’t worry,” Henry said, turning on the seat. “Emma’s really good at catching people.”

Rumpelstiltskin’s hand brushed up and down Belle’s arm soothingly, and she picked up her teacup in trembling hands. “My son has been running for a long time,” he murmured. “I think he’ll be equally adept at it.”

Henry pulled his hot chocolate towards himself. “At least you found him, right?”

Rumpelstiltskin gazed at the boy-child who had brought the Saviour to Storybrooke, who had led to the curse being broken, and now, who was with them as they found Baelfire. The echo of a seer’s words rang in his ears. 

“Yes,” he murmured. “That’s true.”

He forced his attention back to Belle, watching the way her eyes fixed on the cup and didn’t rise again. He didn’t know how he had overlooked her anxiety, but now that he was looking, it was bright as daylight.

The boy was prattling about some nonsense or other, but Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t care less.

“Maybe they’ll be back soon,” Belle said quietly.

“We can hope so,” Rumpelstiltskin agreed. “Henry, you should eat your sandwich.”

Henry turned around from the window, and pulled his plate closer. He looked across at Rumpelstiltskin, and for a moment, with Bae so close, Rumpelstiltskin felt like he was in another time and place, with a boy smiling and telling him everything would be all right.

Belle finished her tea, and they sat in silence until Henry finished his sandwich.

A group had come in from the street, talking and laughing, and Belle shrank closer to Rumpelstiltskin. “Maybe we should go back and wait at the door?” she suggested quietly, and he could sympathise. The world was much bigger and noisier than anything he’d experienced, even in the Fairytale lands.

“It’ll be easier for Emma to find us there,” Henry agreed, wiping his hands on the napkin and crumpling it in a ball. “Thanks for the sandwich, Mr Gold.”

Rumpelstiltskin smiled wanly, as he helped Belle into her coat. Her hand found his, and he squeezed her fingers as they made their way back into the street. The traffic was constant, and he wondered how people could tolerate it, so much noise and rush and chaos. This was the world his son lived in. This was the world Emma had grown up in. They were going to be fine, but he didn’t know if he could say the same for himself and Belle.

The lobby of the apartment block was quiet by comparison, deserted, and he sat down on the bench that rested against the security railings with Belle.

“Are you all right?” he asked, as she leaned back against the rails, closing her eyes.

“It’s all so big,” she admitted, her voice unsteady. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He cradled her hand between his. “It is,” he said, taking comfort in the warmth of her skin against his own. He knew Henry was watching them, with a child’s frank stare, but he was in no state to hold a conversation with the boy.

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” Henry said, sitting on the arm of the bench. “I was excited when I found my mom.”

Rumpelstiltskin looked up at him. The boy was trying to be helpful, but it was the last thing that he needed to hear. “I have the benefit of a little more life experience,” he said. He looked down at Belle’s hand. “I know that things don’t always happen the way we want them to.”

Her fingers tightened around his, and he raised his eyes to her face.

Another person who had been broken down and damaged and cast aside because of him, and yet, she was here. Her small, cautious smile told him that she caught his meaning, and she leaned into him, covering their linked hands with her other hand.

They both jumped like startled deer when the door opened.

Emma walked in.

Alone.

Rumpelstiltskin rose, and Belle with him. “Did you find him?” he asked, unsure if he was more relieved or disappointed that she had returned empty-handed.

Emma glanced at Henry, then back at Rumpelstiltskin. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Your son got away.”

Rumpelstiltskin stared at her blankly. They were in the same city, he and his son. They were both here. He hadn’t spent the lifetimes he had, the desperate hours, the isolation, the loss and struggles, just to walk away, not now, not when he was so close.

He stumbled back a step, and felt Belle’s hand on his arm, stabilising him. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.

He shook his head, turning back to the panel of buzzers. His son would have to come back at some point. If he was here, in the lobby, Bae could just bolt back out the door, but if he was inside, if he was waiting where his son wanted to be…

He shook Belle off his arm, striding over and pressing as many of the button as he could.

“Whoa! Gold! What are you doing?” Emma demanded.

“He won’t be in there,” Belle agreed. 

“No,” Rumpelstiltskin agreed, as the door was buzzed open. “But he’ll be coming back here and I’ll be waiting.”

If they followed, he didn’t really care.

He was pulled back from the door, when he reached for the lock.

“You can’t just break in!” Emma exclaimed. 

Belle caught his other arm. “Rumpelstiltskin, please,” she implored.

He looked at her, the one person he would have done anything for with one exception. “I have to, sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head. “I have to. I’ve come this far. I can’t just walk away now.”

Belle stared at him, then slowly released his arm, and nodded. 

Emma’s grip on his arm tightened instead. “You’ll get arrested.”

“And then he’ll have to see me to charge me,” Rumpelstiltskin replied tautly. “You found the way here, and I’m grateful, but our deal isn’t done. Unless we see him, unless I can talk to him, you still owe me.”

She stared at him, then threw up her hands. “This isn’t going to end well,” she said.

“Not much does,” Rumpelstiltskin replied tautly, withdrawing his lock picks from his pocket and setting to work on the lock.

It took him less than a minute to get the door open, and for all of her protests, Emma was the first one to follow him inside. It was a small place, plain, the shelves cluttered with dozens of objects, but nothing to suggest that this was someone who came from their world.

Rumpelstiltskin looked around, lost, uncertain what he hoped to find.

Belle approached him, slipping her hand in his. “What are you looking for?”

He shook his head.

His sole focus had been Bae. Finding Bae. But now, they were in the place where Bae lived and breathed and slept and worked, all he could think was that he was here. That they were apart because Bae chose to be away from him now.

Belle looked around. “No photographs,” she said quietly. “Doesn’t look like he has…” She cut off the words, but it was too late and Rumpelstiltskin flinched from her. His son had ended up in this world alone, and had remained alone for the gods alone knew how long.

He turned to see Emma Swan lifting down something from the window.

“You found something, dearie?” he asked, his voice as steady as he could make it.

Emma looked like a rabbit in the headlights for a split-second, and he had seen terror enough in people to know she was hiding something. “Nothing,” she lied. “It just looks like a dream catcher.”

He tightened his grip on his cane. “If it’s nothing, why are you still holding it?” She stared down at it, then back at him, holding the dream catcher to her chest. She knew it. Or something about it. He pointed at her. “You’re lying to me.”

“Rumpelstiltskin,” Belle said softly, touching his arm. “Don’t.”

“We should get back to looking,” Emma agreed, hanging it back up.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, staring at Emma. “No, no, no,” he said, his voice only calm with every bit of self-control he had left. “You saw something. Tell me.”

“You don’t know what you’re ta-”

“Tell me! He shouted. He was shking, and his control was slipping, and she was lying about what she knew, what she saw. Had Baelfire really escaped? Or was that a lie too?

Belle’s hand tightened on his. “Rumpel, you don’t need to…”

“I need to know!” His voice was rising, breaking, and Henry was shrinking back, hiding behind his mother. “You’re holding back! I want to know what and why!”

“I’m not holding back!” Emma snapped.

“Did he tell you something?” Rumpelstiltskin took an unsteady step towards her. 

“No! He didn’t say anything!”

“Emma,” Belle’s voice was quiet, unlike theirs. “Please. What happened? Where is he?”

Emma folded her arms tight over her chest, staring defiantly at him. “He ran.”

“You’re lying,” Rumpelstiltskin whispered furiously.

“Rumpel…”

“She’s lying to me!” His voice was rising. “She’s lying and she’s hiding him!” He shook Belle’s hand off his arm, stalking towards Emma as much as his leg would allow. “No one breaks deals with me!”

Emma moved towards him, just as angry, but neither of them got more than a step before the door crashed open. 

Rumpelstiltskin’s hand twitched, calling for magic that he couldn’t touch and he whirled around to face the door. His heart felt like it stopped in his chest. He was right. He knew Baelfire would return. He knew it. And yet, he hadn’t quite believed it, not until his son was standing right in front of him, as angry as he was, hands balled into fists.

His son - a man now, tall, broad, and no longer his boy - met his eyes. There was terror there, panic, dread, loathing, but nothing overrode the anger. “Leave her alone.”


	21. Chapter 21

Ruby was going after Cora.

It was one thing to run wild like a wolf, but Ruby knew better. Cora was a killer, a cold-blooded one at that. She wasn’t someone to rush off after, without any warning or notice. That was why Ruby headed back to the diner and called on Granny.

Her grandmother had been a master tracker in her time, and even now, Ruby knew she would trust Granny more than anyone to be able to find her if anything went wrong.

“You sure you want to do this?” Granny said, spreading the map out on the table. 

Ruby nodded. “As long as she’s running around unchecked, any of us could be in danger,” she said. “If I can at least pin down a location, maybe we’ll be able to capture her or at least disarm her so she can’t hurt anyone.”

Her grandmother frowned, shaking her head. “If this is the person who scares the Queen and the Dark One, I don’t think disarming her’ll be enough,” she said bluntly. “You ask me, someone should put an axe through her head.”

“If she’s got magic, we wouldn’t even get close enough to do that,” Ruby pointed out. “We should call the Blue Fairy. See if she has any way of giving us an edge.” She ran a hand over her face and sighed. “She stopped Regina with magic before. Maybe she could do the same with Cora?”

“Can’t hurt to ask,” Granny agreed. “We need to find her first, though.”

Ruby sat down, searching the map. “I don’t think she knows anyone in town apart from Regina, so she has to be hiding out somewhere.”

“She doesn’t sound like a lady who would do without her home comforts,” Granny said, leaning on her knuckles on the table. She glanced at Ruby. “You think she’d take people out to get herself a roof over her head.”

“It’s not impossible,” Ruby admitted. She ran her fingers over the map. “We can rule the docks out. I sniffed around down there before I came back, and she’s definitely not anywhere in that area.” She looked up at her grandmother. “Where do you think I should start?”

Granny gazed at the map unseeing. “You said she’d be going after Regina,” she said. “Has her Majesty been home since this all started?”

“No,” Ruby said, rising. “No. I think she’s been with Snow the whole time. Snow said they didn’t want to leave her alone, in case Cora managed to twist Regina back around.”

“If I was trying to find my child,” Granny said without looking at her. “I’d start at her home, and work from there.” She folded up the map. “If she can transport herself with magic, it’s going to be a challenge.”

“I can do it,” Ruby promised. “I have my cell with me, and I’ll call you every hour or if I find anything.”

“Every half hour,” Granny said abruptly. “This isn’t a hunt to take lightly.” She turned to face Ruby, as Ruby got up from the table. “I know you’re a big girl now, Red, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Ruby smiled. “I’ll be careful,” she said, leaning down to kiss her grandmother. “Every half an hour, and more if I find something.”

Storybrooke was quiet.

It was as if the residents could tell that something was going on. 

People were sticking to their homes and workplaces, and the streets were deserted. Maybe, Ruby thought as she walked in the direction of the Mayor’s house, whispers had spread about the new big evil. Or maybe there was just something in their blood that let them know when it was time to take cover.

The front gate at Regina’s house was closed, but even from the end of the path, Ruby could see that the door was ajar.

She took a nervous breath, then walked towards it.

The scent hit her almost at once.

It had been fainter on the ship. Cora must have stayed above decks for most of their voyage, but here, in the enclosed space of Regina’s home, her scent was strong. It was also a small comfort - and disappointing - to realise that it wasn’t fresh.

She had been there, and she had lingered, but she was gone again.

Ruby pushed the front door open with her fingertips.

She had never been to the Mayor’s house. 

Most sensible people in Storybrooke avoided it and its owner.

It was as grand as she expected, a modern American equivalent of a palace, with elegant, curving stairs and tall windows. 

Rooms branched off from the hall, each as vast as the next. Everything was coordinated, too perfect, too sharp, too bright, and Ruby wondered if that was the curse, setting up a beautiful but soulless home for its beautiful but heartless owner.

She ventured into the living room first, closing her eyes and letting her nose do its thing. Cora had been here, and Ruby could tell where she had walked around, but also where she had paused, where the scent lingered, a little stronger. 

Each time she hit one of those hotspots, she would open her eyes and check why, in case it was some hint about where she might be hiding: near a photograph of Regina and Henry before the curse broke, by Regina’s desk in the study, halfway up the stairs looking out towards town.

There was no clue, no sign of what she was looking for, if anything. There was also no sign of where she might have gone.

It just felt like Cora had wandered through the house, picking things up, looking at them, trying to find any sign of her daughter. Or of her daughter’s weakness. She’d been looking at the pictures of Henry. She knew Regina loved her child, and that interested her.

Ruby shivered at the thought. 

Cora was exactly the kind of person to go for Henry to get at Regina.

The only saving grace was that Henry was safely out of town.

She flipped out her cell, calling the diner.

“Anything?”

Ruby’s lips twitched. Granny at least could be counted on not to get sentimental. “Not yet,” she said. “I’ve checked all over the house, and I think she was going to go after Henry.” She paused, halfway down the stairs. “Did Regina have any other family who might have links in town?”

Granny was silent for a moment. “The last of her family was her old man,” she said. “Last time anyone saw him was before the curse.”

“And he wouldn’t have just left her be,” Ruby murmured. “I’ll call Snow. See if she knows what happened to him. Have you had any luck contacting Blue?”

“She’s on her way to see Snow and Charming now,” Granny said. “Be careful.”

Ruby nodded, hanging up and dialling Snow’s number. It felt weird to be asking about the Queen to help her, but that was apparently what they were doing now. She waited at the bottom of the staircase, drumming her fingernails on the edge of the banister. 

“Red?”

Ruby smiled. “Hey, Snow,” she said. “Did Charming…”

“Tell me you were on a suicide mission?” Her friend sounded terrified for her. “Red, you can’t go after her alone.”

“I’m not going after her,” Ruby said. “I’m just trying to pinpoint her so we can go after her together.”

Snow sighed noisily. “Red…”

“I know, I know,” Ruby said. “Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”

“I was thinking ‘don’t get killed’,” Snow countered quietly. “She’s bad news.”

“I’m getting that,” Ruby murmured. “But I need Regina’s advice now. I’ve checked the house and she’s not there. Did Regina have anywhere else that she’d consider hers? Places that might feel more… enchanted forest than modern world?”

Snow was silent for a moment, then covered the mouthpiece of the phone, speaking to Regina. Ruby paced impatiently, until Snow came back. “What kind of place?”

“I don’t know,” Ruby said honestly. “I have the forest, when I can be the wolf. You and Charming have the Toll bridge. Maybe she has somewhere that she goes when she wants to remember who she was?”

The muffled conversation started up again.

“You’re looking for my crypt,” Regina’s voice came crisply down the line. It sounded like she’d snatched the phone from Snow. “There’s a mausoleum in the town cemetery with my crest above the door. Underneath.” Regina’s breath escaped in a shivering sigh. “I don’t think she would be there, but it’s the only place I can think of.”

Ruby was silent for a moment. “What’s down there?”

“All my possessions,” Regina replied. “Anything I considered useful. Anything I considered mine.”

Ruby nodded. “I’ll check there,” she said. “But can you think of anywhere else?”

“There’s nowhere else,” Regina said with a frankness that surprised Ruby. “I don’t have much that is mine.”

If it had been anyone else, Ruby might have pitied her, but it was still Regina.

“I’ll call,” she said abruptly. “If I find anything else.”

She snapped her phone shut and slipped it into her pocket, then headed back out into the streets of Storybrooke. 

It was already getting cool, the evening coming in, and Ruby looked up at the sky. Even with the clouds thick to the horizon, she could feel the prickle of the coming moonrise. Her senses were growing, scent and sound stronger than before.

The wind tossed her hair around her face as she set out towards the cemetery.

She’d never had any real reason to visit the place since she woke up, though she knew that every grave that stood there was a testament to the lost of the forest. She’d never wanted to check if Peter had a stone set up, a reminder of the man who he had never become.

She didn’t stop to look now either.

It wasn’t a big cemetery, not for the size of Storybrooke, and it wasn’t difficult to find the mausoleum. There weren’t many, and the white stonework was practically gleaming even in the fading daylight.

Ruby approached it warily, closing her eyes and sniffing at the air.

Cora had been here.

Recently too.

She ventured cautiously up the stone staircase, pushing the door ajar. The hinges creaked, and Ruby froze, but there was no sound from within the crypt. The air was thick with dust and the scent of ancient, dried-out rose petals.

She looked around the crypt.

Bare cornices lined the walls, and the only thing within the mausoleum was vast stone sarcophagus in the middle of the building. Ruby frowned, circling the tomb. The lid was incised with the name of Regina’s father, but that was all there was. No doorway. No opening of any kind.

The only thing she could see that seemed out of place was the way the dust was disturbed on one side.

Unless…

Ruby padded round to the dustier side of the tomb and pushed against it with all her strength. To her astonishment, it moved as smoothly as if it were on casters, revealing a staircase below. On the walls, torches sparked to life.

Cora had been down there too, very recently. She wasn’t there now, but her scent was lingering.

Ruby flipped open her phone, sending a message to her grandmother to let her know where she was, then cautiously ventured down the stone staircase into the hidden chamber. It was cool, but not as cold as she expected, and the place was lined with chests and boxes.

They didn’t bear Regina’s scent, not one of them.

Cora’s possessions.

She was hiding them where no one but her daughter would think or dare to look.

Ruby crouched down by one of the chests, flipping open the lid.

“Now, my dear,” a woman’s voice said close behind her. “Don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you.”


	22. Chapter 22

The apartment was small. It should have felt safe and enclosed, but instead, it felt claustrophobic and smothering. It was the confrontation, the anger, the recriminations. Belle didn't dare to step between them: Emma and the man who was Baelfire, their son, and Rumpelstiltskin standing so close and so shaken. 

All she could do was press back to the wall, trembling. 

Rumpelstiltskin didn't even notice. He was staring at the man who was his son with a desperate hunger she had never seen before. That was what he had been fighting for, the most important thing to him. Right now, she was a speck of dust in the wind.

Voices were raised, louder and louder, and all at once Henry scrambled out the window onto the balcony, out of sight.

Emma hauled herself out after him, and it should have made things better, but it didn't. 

Father and son stared at one another, and it felt like all the air was being sucked from the room.

Belle knew she didn't have a place there, she didn't have any right to break into their reunion, but her head felt light and the world was spinning, and her breath was coming to fast. She reached out a shaking hand and touched Rumpelstiltskin's arm.

He flinched as if she had struck him, and she shrank back.

For a split-second, he almost seemed as if he didn't recognise her, then his eyes widened, and he slipped a hand gently under her arm. "Belle?"

She tried to be brave and to say something, but her legs were shaking beneath her.

"Help me get her to the couch," Rumpelstiltskin said without looking at his son. Stronger, broader hands were suddenly at her other arm, and they guided her over to the couch, helping her to sit down. Rumpelstiltskin's hands were warm around one of hers, and he rubbed her palm and fingers gently. "Belle, sweetheart, are you all right?"

She looked at him, the world hazy around the edges. She wasn't sure if it was the dizziness or tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's too much."

He was closer, suddenly, and his arms were around her, a small safe circle in a world that was loud and big and angry. "You're safe," he murmured, his hand running in comforting strokes down her back. She believed him. Frightened as he was, he would protect her, just like he had promised.

"You want some water?" The younger man said nearby, awkward, uncertain.

Belle shook her head, her fingers curled into Rumpelstiltskin's shirt, holding him tight.

For a moment, there was silence, with only the distant sound of the city outside the building.

Her breathing grew steadier, little by little, and she dared to lift her face. 

Rumpelstiltskin gently brushed the tears from her cheeks with his pocket handkerchief.

"Who is she?" The man who was Baelfire was standing on the far side of the coffee table. His arms were folded over his chest and while the anger was gone, the suspicion and the fear was still there.

"Belle," Rumpelstiltskin murmured, without looking up. It was as if he looked at her to keep himself brave and calm. He almost smiled, but it was thin and fragile. He turned his head and looked across the table at his son. "You had Miss Swan. I have Belle."

Baelfire stared at him, then turned away, walking in a tight circle. "Jesus." Her ran his hands over his face, over his hair, then spun back around. "Does she know what you are? What you've done? What you did to me? What you did to my mother?"

Rumpelstiltskin's hand closed on Belle's and she knew it wasn't for her sake. His grip was almost painful, but she turned her fingers and held onto him just as tightly. "She knows," he said quietly. "Bae..."

"You think you can just show up here?" Baelfire said angrily. "You think you can just break into my place and ruin my life all over again?"

Belle looked at Rumpelstiltskin. She could see the grief etching deep lines in his face. "That's not why I came," he said, his voice breaking. "Bae, please."

Baelfire shook his head. "I gave you chances," he said. "I did. I offered you a way out of it all, a way we could be happy. You're the one who let go." He folded his arms tightly again. "Did you set all this up? Did you send her to find me? Did you know she had my kid?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "I-I only wanted to find you," he whispered. "Bae, I've come so far."

"So did I," Baelfire said tersely. "And you're the one who made it happen."

Rumpelstiltskin looked like he was shrinking inwards. He was scared and lost and in that moment, Belle realised that she was the one who could breathe again.

"He's trying to make things right," she said in a timid voice. She squeezed Rumpelstiltskin's hand. She looked up at Baelfire, and she could see flickers of his father in the way he folded in on himself, the way his lips tightened, the way he lifted his head in a show of false bravado.

"This isn't something you can just make better, lady," he said. "I've had years on my own because of him. I lost both my parents because of him, because of what he became."

Belle remembered the story, the magic that Rumpelstiltskin had claimed to keep his child from being dragged away to war. "You would have been dead, if he hadn't," she said quietly. She swallowed down the fear, trying to keep it at bay, and released Rumpelstiltskin's hand to rise and approach his son. "Please. I know he's done bad things, but he's trying to be a better person."

Baelfire looked down at her, wary and doubtful. "And why would I trust you? No offence, but he brought you. He could enchanted you to do anything he wants."

Belle met his eyes. So like his father: just as afraid, and hiding just as much behind the showman.

"He wouldn't," she said. "Not to me." She hesitated, just for a moment, then touched his forearm. "He let me go too, Baelfire, because he was afraid I would make him weak." 

She could see she had hit a nerve, and Baelfire looked beyond her at his father, barely a glance. "Old habits," he said bitterly.

"It didn't stop him looking for us," she said quietly. Her hand was still light on his arm. "He knows he made mistakes."

Baelfire searched her face. "What were you to him? A witch? Someone powerful?"

Belle's lips twitched. "I was his maid," she said. "Apparently, he considered himself above using a feather duster." She looked over her shoulder at Rumpelstiltskin, who was rigid with tension, his hands clasped tightly on the handle of his cane. "Everyone tells me how terrible he is, but I see a scared man there, who is trying so hard to be a better person." She smiled, just a little. "He's not a monster."

Rumpelstiltskin looked up at her, startled, and she wondered if perhaps it was something she had said before.

"Maybe not to you," Baelfire said quietly, "but I remember blood on a knife and death and screams of people who hadn't done anything wrong." He unfolded his arms, letting her hand fall away from him, and he looked at his father. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kick you out right now."

Rumpelstiltskin lowered his eyes. "Because I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracked.

Belle had to look away, from him, from his son. She could only just remember the face of the man who claimed to be her father. She had only seen him for a moment, after he stripped her memories from her, and he had never looked as stricken as both father and son did. She made her way to the sink, filling a glass from the faucet with trembling hands.

A clatter from the window preceded Emma's return.

She froze when all eyes turned to her. "We okay?" she said warily.

"Not even close," Baelfire said, his voice clipped. He headed towards the window, climbing out just as smoothly as Emma had climbed in.

Emma looked helplessly from Belle to Rumpelstiltskin. "It could have been worse?" she offered wearily.

"It could," Rumpelstiltskin agreed dully.

Belle could only nod.

It felt like they were all in disgrace when father and son finally came back into the apartment. Baelfire and Henry all but ignored them, heading out into the streets again for something to eat. Emma lingered back with Belle and Rumpelstiltskin, looking as drawn as he did.

“I don’t understand,” Belle said quietly. She was holding Rumpelstiltskin’s arm, and he was silent and grave-faced. “Why are they angry with you too?”

A muscle twitched in Emma’s cheek. “I may have wanted to keep them both from finding out about each other,” she said, thrusting her hands into her pockets.

Belle looked ahead of them, where father and son were talking animatedly to each other, as if they’d known one another all along. Baelfire didn’t seem like the kind of person who would knowingly give up a child, which meant he must have left Emma behind. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”

Emma breathed in through her nose, then out slowly, her jaw set. “You’re not wrong,” she said, her tone telling Belle it was a good time to drop the topic. Emma looked at her. “How about you? How’re you doing?”

“Breathing.”

It was all the answer she could manage.

She was out of Storybrooke, in a huge city that was so big that she didn’t dare look up higher than anyone’s eye level. Every step was a challenge, especially knowing that she had to hold herself together for the sake of Rumpelstiltskin. She could feel his arm trembling under her hand, and he had more reason to be upset than she did. So breathing was good. Breathing was better than not breathing. 

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her. “You’re being very brave, sweetheart,” he said quietly.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. “I’m not,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m just doing the brave thing. If bravery would catch up, that would be nice.”

He stopped then, turning to face her, and lifted his hand to touch her cheek. “You’re here, with me,” he said. “That’s the bravest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

The sincerity in his expression took her breath away. He always said he cared for her, and she liked to try and believe it, even if she was just the face of the person he loved. She lifted up her hand to cover his against her cheek.

“We should catch up,” she said unsteadily.

He nodded, and let her take his arm again.

They found a bench, and waited for Baelfire and Neal to come out of the pizza bar they had entered. Belle fixed her eyes on a small flower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, both her hands resting around Rumpelstiltskin’s arm.

“What do we do now?” she asked in a small voice. “Do we go back? Will he come too?”

“God knows,” Emma said. She was leaning against the back of the bench, her eyes fixed on the diner. “I don’t want be around him, and I’m pretty sure him dumping me was meant to be a permanent arrangement.”

“Children… complicate matters,” Rumpelstiltskin murmured.

Emma snorted, folding her arms, and they waited. 

It was almost a relief when the pair emerged, and they could go back in the direction of the apartment. It was only to pick something up, but the enclosed space sounded welcome, and Belle was wondering how to ask Rumpelstiltskin if she could just stay there, in the quiet, just for a little while. 

“We need a plan,” Emma said quietly as they entered the lobby.

“This was the extent of mine,” Rumpelstiltskin said frankly. “My son. I wanted to find him. I have. I didn’t think beyond this.” He held open the security gate, looking up the stairs. “Three centuries of planning.” He shook his head.

Belle stood uncertainly between the doorway and the gate. “Maybe we should leave you alone with him?” she suggested.

“I don’t think Henry…” Emma’s words were cut off as someone crashed through the door, knocking her flying. 

Belle spun around, startled.

The man. The pirate.

He had his hook upraised, and there was ugly fury in his face.

“Belle!” 

Arms were around her waist, throwing her aside. She staggered, fell hard, hands and knees cracking noisily on the floor, but that didn’t matter. She heard the cry of pain, the dull, meaty sound of metal on flesh, and looked up to see Rumpelstiltskin pulled up onto his toes by the hook imbedded in his chest.

“Tick tock, Crocodile,” the pirate snarled.

Belle looked around wildly for something - anything - to use as a weapon, but Emma got there first. She had an umbrella stand and brought it down hard on the pirate’s head. He fell like a bag of cement and Rumpelstiltskin crumpled to the floor, gasping.

“Rumpel!” Belle crawled across the floor on hands and knees, pulling him up into her arms. “Rumpel, are you all right?”

His hands were shaking. They looked almost blue they were so pale, and they were shaking as he tugged at his shirt. There was blood. Blood all over, and all she could do was stare at it, soaking through his clothes. “I don’t think I am,” he said faintly.

“What’s going on?”

Belle looked up. “He’s hurt,” she whispered.

Baelfire was standing at the gate. He didn’t look like a grown man anymore. He was pale, wide-eyed, and the child Rumpelstiltskin had lost was standing there, staring down at his father, injured and soaked in blood.

“P-papa?” Rumpelstiltskin gasped in pain as Emma pressed his handkerchief to the wound. Baelfire rushed over, falling to his knees. “God, papa…”

Belle’s eyes were burning. Papa. He wanted his papa. And now, Rumpelstiltskin was hurt by the pirate.

“Only a scratch,” Rumpelstiltskin groaned.

“The hell it is!” Emma snapped. “We need an ambulance!”

Rumpelstiltskin tweaked open his shirt, and Belle pressed her hand to her mouth in horror. The wound was a virulent shade, and almost seemed to be bubbling. “No mortal cure for this ailment,” he whispered. He lifted his shaking, bloody hand to Belle’s cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

She saw her tears splash on his cheeks. He didn’t even notice. “Why did you do that?” she whispered. “Why?”

His fingers trembled against her jaw. “Why?” he asked, as if he couldn’t understand why she would ask such a question. “Because I love you.”


	23. Chapter 23

City Hall had never felt more claustrophobic.

Even when they were waiting for the wraith to appear, so many months before, David couldn't remember the room crackling with so much tension.

Ruby hadn't called back in over an hour, and that made Granny edgy. When Granny was edgy, she tended to prowl like a hunter, armed to the teeth with sharp-edged weapons. He could see her finger resting on the trigger of her crossbow as she paced by the windows, glancing out into the twilight. 

Regina and Snow were distracted, bent over one of the tables with the Blue Fairy, working on a plan to ensnare Cora. It was simple: using the same enchantments that they had once used to capture Regina, they would strip Cora of her power, and if all went to plan, replace her heart. 

There was no guarantee it would make any difference to the woman, but it was the only plan they had to keep her from harming anyone else. It all hinged on luring her into plain sight, and to do that, Regina would have to be bait.

Regina was the one who had suggested it. Cora would be looking for her, trying to get her when she was alone and vulnerable. That was how she operated. David could see how much it pained her to say it, how she paled. It frightened her, but for Henry's sake, she was going to face it.

David knew he could never really care for Regina, not after everything he'd seen, after everything she'd done, after she'd let his and Snow's daughter grow up alone and cold, but he could pity her for her upbringing.

He approached Granny. "How you holding up?"

The woman looked at him. "Ask me again when Ruby gets back," she said tersely through gritted teeth. She glanced out again. "Probably got in trouble, stupid girl that she is."

"She'll be fine," David said.

Granny's laugh sounded more like a sharp bark. "I know that," she said. "We're hard to kill. I just worry what she might do if someone pushes her too far." She leaned closer to the glass, looking out into the rain-dashed street. "Hmm."

David peered out. Ruby was running towards the building. Her shirt was ripped and her hair was bedraggled around her, but she was intact. "Thank God," he said. 

He turned and hurried back across the hall to the doors to unlock them. There were charms in place, making the City Hall the most secure place they could be. It was safer than their apartments, which could come under attack from above and below. Here, no one could enter without permission.

Ruby was leaning against the pillar beside the door, panting quietly when he opened the door. She flashed him a weak smile. “Hey.”

“You’re okay?” David said, motioning her in.

“Well, I’m not dead,” she said. She looked startled when Granny descended on her and hugged her hard, and for a moment too long. “Uh, hi.”

Granny scowled at her, then turned and stamped off in the direction of the table.

“What’s wrong with her?” Ruby asked, lifting her hands to push her hair back into some kind of order. There were leaves and dirt in it, and it was matted, but she twisted it into a bun on top of her head, loose strand coiling around her face.

“She was just worried,” David said, patting her shoulder. “Snow!”

Snow turned around from the table, then smiled brightly, hurrying over towards them. “You made it back okay,” she said, catching Ruby’s hand. “We were starting to worry.”

Ruby smiled, all white teeth. “You didn’t think I’d get caught by some old witch?”

“I’ve learned not to underestimate Cora,” Snow admitted. “Did you have any luck finding it?”

“It?” Ruby echoed.

“The heart?” Snow said quietly.

“Oh!” Ruby shook her head, glancing towards the table where Granny was talking quietly to Blue. Her eyes flicked over Regina as well. “No. I found her hiding place, but I don’t think she would leave it lying around there. She would want to keep it safe.”

Snow’s shoulders slumped. “oh,” she said unhappily.

“We might still find it,” David said encouragingly, putting his arm around Snow’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Snow agreed, “but we’re running out of time. Emma said they’re bringing Gold back here, but he’s weak. We won’t have anyone strong enough to fight against Cora.”

Ruby nodded to Regina. “What about her? Wouldn’t she be strong enough to take on her own mother?”

Snow glanced back. Regina was sitting at the table, her head in her hands. Even David could see she was physically and mentally exhausted. Taking her own mother on would be a step too far, and the pressure might be enough to break the fragile truce they had.

“I don’t think so,” Snow said.

“Ruby,” Blue said, approaching. She was holding a map. “You said you found Cora’s hiding place.”

Ruby nodded and Blue held out the map. Granny was by her side.

“Can you show me where it was?” Blue said. “I might be able to track the heart based on that.”

Ruby glanced down at the map, her eyes skimming across it, then she lifted her hand. “Here,” she said, and put her finger to paper.

Magic shimmered like a wave, surging over Ruby and wrapping her tight in magical bonds. Granny’s crossbow rose and pointed straight at her, and the old woman growled, “Where the hell is my granddaughter?”

“Granny!” Snow exclaimed, but David was staring at Ruby.

The enchantment was stripping away magic.

“How did you kn…” he started to say.

“You didn’t look at the sky,” Granny said tersely. “She’s not wearing her cloak.”

Ruby’s face shimmered and shifted and the woman standing before them wasn’t Ruby anymore. Black hair became brown threaded with silver. Casual pants and a shirt shifted into a long, beaded black and blue gown, an old-world style dress. She was a middle-aged woman with dark eyes and red, red lips.

Snow swore aloud, taking a step back.

“Mother?” Regina’s voice was a shaking whisper.

Cora struggled against the bonds, her eyes blazing. “You foolish fairy,” she snarled at Blue. “You think this can contain me?”

Blue’s expression was hard as stone. “I know it can,” she said. “Yours is a young power, witch.”

“Enough,” Granny snapped. “Where’s Ruby?”

Cora laughed furiously. “Why would I tell you that? I tell you, and I’m as good as dead.”

Granny shoved her crossbow up under the woman’s jaw, forcing Cora’s head back. “You don’t tell me, and I promise I’ll find ways to hurt you that you haven’t even imagined,” she said, baring her teeth.

“Granny!” Snow caught her arm, pulling her back. “We can’t just kill her!”

Granny’s eyes were fixed on Cora. “Why not? She would?”

“But we’re not her,” David said. 

Granny’s expression didn’t change. “I’ve seen my family slaughtered. I’ve seen blood on the snow. I’ve lost everything I had. If she takes Ruby away from me, you don’t want to be standing in my way.”

“We’ll find her,” David said. “We will.” He glanced at the Blue Fairy. “Blue, will this spell hold?”

Blue nodded grimly. “For as long as you need it there. She’s powerless now.”

“Really?” Regina’s voice came from behind them. It was small, childlike. She didn’t sound like a woman who had killed and maimed and tortured and cursed people.

Cora tutted, shaking her head. “Mingling with the sheep, Regina? I thought you were better than this.”

David didn’t know who cried out first when Granny backhanded Cora so hard that she staggered, even bound by the magic.

“She’s better than you,” the old woman spat. “That’s why she’s mingling with us.” She lowered her crossbow and looked at Regina. Whatever she saw there, it was something that made her expression soften, and to David’s surprise, she touched Regina’s shoulder gently. “You’re safe now, girl. You have friends. She won’t hurt you.”

Regina was staring at her mother, fear and confusion rife on her face. “She’s my mother,” she whispered.

“By blood, maybe,” Granny said quietly, “but not in deed.” She lifted a callused hand to Regina’s cheek. “Help me find my girl, and I’m sure we’ll find your mother’s heart. Maybe then, she’ll be worthy of the title.”

Regina looked past Granny at Cora, then slowly nodded.

“You foolish child,” Cora laughed bitterly, straining against the magic that bound her. “What makes you think you can find her?”

Granny swung around. “She has magic, I’m a wolf, and we both have pretty strong motivation,” she said coldly. “I think we can work out something.” She nodded to Snow. “Get her to the cells.”

David glanced at her. “Granny, she might be…” He hesitated.

Granny smiled grimly. “Like I said,” she said. “We’re hard to kill. Especially on a full moon.”


	24. Chapter 24

Rumpelstiltskin was dying.

Jones had been thorough.

He hadn't just stabbed Rumpelstiltskin with his hook: he'd made sure his sting was toxic, using some kind of magical poison, something that would kill slowly and painfully even if the wound wasn't fatal.

Rumpelstiltskin could feel the poison spreading through him, weakening him by the moment. He didn't know what was worse: the fear on Belle's face or the sudden and desperate worry on Bae's. The only comfort he could take was that his son was alive, full-grown, a good man. He would take care of Belle, for his father's sake.

They were on their way back to Storybrooke, in Jones's stolen ship. His son could sail it. Rumpelstiltskin didn't know how or why, but his son had offered to take him home, in the belief it would save him.

He'd given them that hope to cling to at least. If they got back to a place where he could touch magic, he suggested he might be able to break the curse laid on him by the poison. It was a curse, after all. They were his speciality.

What he didn't say was that he wanted to be home, to die in the bed that had become his own.

They believed he could save himself.

Why wouldn't they?

Everyone knew he was the most powerful magic-wielder in the realm. Even Emma believed it, despite being the most cynical person he had ever encountered.

They believed him and that was their mistake. He didn't lie, but he never said it would make things better. He only said that there was magic in Storybrooke, and let them make the leap, the assumption, the hope that it would be enough.

"How are you feeling?" Belle asked softly. She was sitting on the edge of the bunk beside him, gently pressing a cool compress to his brow.

Rumpelstiltskin opened his eyes. The cabin swam around him. "Conscious," he whispered. Even that was borderline. He could see Emma standing in the doorway, watching him. "Miss Swan?"

"We're more than halfway there already," she said. Her arms were folded over her chest and she was leaning against the doorframe. "The sun's down, but Neal says he can steer by the stars. We should be there soon."

He closed his eyes. It felt like too much effort to keep them open. "Could you fetch me a drink, sweetheart?" he murmured to Belle. He listened as she got up, her shoes tapping on the wooden floor, and out of the room. Only then did he open his eyes again. "You'll take care of them."

It wasn't a request.

"I won't have to," Swan replied tersely. "You're not going to die, Gold."

He laughed, then winced as sharp pain lanced through his chest, making his whole body tense. "That's a matter of opinion," he rasped. 

The woman gazed down at him. There was no affection there. She didn’t like him, he knew that much, or trust him. “I’m going to save you,” she said finally. “You’re Henry’s grandfather now, and that makes you family. You don’t just let family go without a fight.”

Maybe she meant it as an accusation, or maybe it was just an unfortunate choice of words, but it served as a cutting reminder of the son - the stranger - who stood on the deck above them, steering the ship towards home.

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes. “How is he?”

“Henry?”

He shook his head. “My son,” he whispered.

Her boots thumped on the floor as she walked closer. “He’s worried for you,” she said.

Rumpelstiltskin snorted weakly.

“Don’t believe me if you like,” she said, “but it doesn’t make it any less true. You may be a jackass and you may have ruined his life, but you’re still his father. Why else would he be coming with us, if he didn’t care?”

Rumpelstiltskin forced his eyes open. “To see the end of it,” he said in a whisper.

Emma shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. She stepped back when Belle hurried back into the cabin with a cup of water. “You get some rest, Gold. I’ll let you know when we get there.”

He made no reply, accepting the drink from Belle’s hand, and closed his eyes.

He must have slept. He wasn't sure. Maybe it was just unconsciousness. Belle's hand shook his arm, a gentle way to wake. With effort, he managed to open his eyes and looked at her, then beyond her. Baelfire was standing at the door, and between him and his father, the dwarf and the Saviour were standing.

"You look like hell," Leroy said.

Rumpelstiltskin struggled to sit up with Belle's help. She slipped her shoulder under his arm, supporting him. "Thank you," he said hoarsely, "for that astute observation." He didn't dare to look down, but he could feel the way his shirt was clinging to him, sticky with blood.

"Do you think you can walk?" Swan asked. "Mary Margaret sent Leroy to pick us up. Said they’re taking care of some things in town. If you need help…"

Rumpelstiltskin clenched his teeth. He was damned if he was going to appear weak in front of them. "I'm not dead yet, dearie," he ground out through clenched teeth. It felt like he had acid in his veins. He levered himself upright, and it was only Belle's shoulder under his arm that stopped him collapsing entirely when his legs went out beneath him.

The dwarf lunged forward, catching his other arm. Before Rumpelstiltskin could protest, the dwarf pulled Rumpelstiltskin's arm over his shoulder. His broad arm around Rumpelstiltskin's waist was as solid and supportive as a brick wall. 

"You okay?" Swan demanded. She sounded alarmed. How sweet, Rumpelstiltskin thought vaguely. 

"Mm." He lifted his head and saw Baelfire. He was pale, drawn. Worried. His boy was worried about him. Rumpelstiltskin took a laboured breath. "I think," he said slowly, "I want to go home."

"You three go ahead," the dwarf said. "I'll bring him along. Get the seats folded down. This guy needs to lie down."

Belle reluctantly detached herself from his side. "I'll get a fresh blanket from the other cabin," she said, then followed Emma and Baelfire out of the confining room.

Leroy shifted his arm, and Rumpelstiltskin's feet were barely stumbling along the floor as the dwarf half-drew, half-carried him. It could have been painful, but as tough as the dwarf was, his grip was careful.

"Thank you," Rumpelstiltskin said hoarsely.

Leroy snorted. "I'm not doing it for you, Stiltskin," he said. "Belle’s my friend, and she loves you, for whatever reason. If you're gonna die on her, I don't want her seeing it on the sidewalk. She deserves better than that."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed sadly. "Better," he rasped, his head spinning. "So much better."

Leroy looked at him from the corner of his eye, as they made their way carefully up the staircase to the deck. "You really love her, huh?" Rumpelstiltskin just looked at him. "Just making sure." The dwarf helped him up through the hatch. "And before we go any further, if you survive this by some miracle, and you hurt her, I'll break both your legs with my pickaxe."

Rumpelstiltskin chuckled hoarsely. "Not quite the threat you'd imagine, dearie," he whispered. "But the sentiment is appreciated."

Leroy nodded curtly, helping him down the gangplank towards the dock.

The trunk of Mary Margaret’s station wagon was open, and Belle was spreading out blankets inside it. Emma looked at him in concern, one arm around Henry’s shoulders. Belle looked up from her task.

“It’s not going to be comfortable,” she said fretfully.

“It’s fine,” Rumpelstiltskin murmured, as Leroy helped him sit down on the edge of the seat. A shudder of pain tore through him and he drew a breath.

Belle crawled closer. “You said you’d be okay if we could get somewhere with magic,” she said, her eyes bright with emotion. “You said.”

He couldn’t meet her eyes. “I know.”

“He lied.” Baelfire’s words were hard, flat, but when Rumpelstiltskin lifted his eyes to his son, Bae looked as terrified as Belle. His son met his eyes, then looked away. “He’s good at that.”

He had his arms wrapped around his middle, and Rumpelstiltskin could see the way his lips were trembling. He’d only seen such fear once in his son’s face, the last time he had been flesh and blood and mortal flesh in the old world, before a bloodied knife turned their world. 

“Rumpel?” Belle’s voice broke.

He looked at her. “Take me home, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I’m tired.”

“Henry, you sit up front,” Baelfire said, then he silently climbed into the back of the car. He put his arms around Rumpelstiltskin and pulled him further back. “You,” he said to Belle. “Do you want to hold him up?”

Belle nodded, scrambling in too, and settling behind Rumpelstiltskin to support him, her arm around his shoulder. It was fortunate, he thought distantly. He would have fallen without her there. In so many ways.

He didn’t recall much of the journey. Belle was murmuring to him, softly, some nonsense to comfort and soothe him. He tried to listen, but it was growing harder. She had to shake him gently to try and rouse him when they reached his home.

“Can you stand?” she asked in a whisper. 

He looked out the window of the car at the house that had been his false home for so long. It would be apt to die in there, his son and his lover by his side, one who would never forget who he was, and one who would never remember.

“I can try,” he said.

In the end, it took his son and the dwarf to help him up the stairs into the house, and every step was a labour. He nodded to the daybed in the parlour, releasing a shaking breath when they set him down. Belle drew up one of the footstools, sitting down beside him, and caught his icy hand in her own.

“Is he going to die?”

Henry.

He’d forgotten Henry was still there, and the boy sounded scared.

Rumpelstiltskin opened lead-heavy eyes to look at the child who was his grandson. It was the child who had brought Emma to Storybrooke, and the child who had helped break the curse, so he could find his son. It was as the seer had foretold, so long ago. His undoing.

“Take him away,” he whispered to Emma. “He doesn’t need to see this.”

Emma’s face was blank, strangely emotionless, and she nodded curtly, her arm around her son’s shoulders. “Leroy, can you drive us back?” she asked quietly. “I… need to see my parents.”

“Sure,” Leroy said, pausing to touch Belle’s shoulder. “You know where to find me, sister.”

Belle nodded, but her eyes remained on Rumpelstiltskin’s face. He gazed at her in the silence, and he could hear his breath rasping and bubbling, as if everything inside him was boiling over.

Somewhere, a thousand miles away, the door closed.

“Can’t you do something?” she pleaded, tears on her cheeks.

He lifted his other hand to brush them away. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he breathed. “I wish I could.” He could feel the magic, slipping through his fingers, even as he tried to clutch at it, like a breath of wind, a trickle of water. He looked towards his son. “Bae…”

Baelfire’s hands were sunk deep in his pockets and his he was looking anywhere but his father’s face. “I was happy,” he said, his voice cracking. “I-I had a life. A normal life. And now, you show up and…” He shook his head, his lips pressing together. 

“I’m sorry, Bae,” Rumpelstiltskin whispered. It was so simple now. No magic. No power. No reason to hide. “I came so far to find you…” A pained breath hissed between his teeth. “I love you, Bae. I wanted you to know.”

His son’s voice broke. “Then why are you letting go again?” He sounded like a child, like the child he had been. “Papa, please…”

Rumpelstiltskin held out a trembling hand. “Oh, Bae…”

His son didn’t step any closer. He just folded, crumpling down onto his knees by the daybed, grasping Rumpelstiltskin’s hand as if it were a lifeline, pressing his brow to Rumpelstiltskin’s ice-cold fingers and holding fast.

With what little strength he had left, he drew his hands across his heart, and laid Belle’s hand on top of Bae’s. His son and his lover looked at one another from tear-bright eyes, and Rumpelstiltskin watched as Belle’s hand curled around Bae’s. 

It hurt, to know they were in pain, but there was peace too. The two people he loved most in all the realms were with him. They were with him, and they were safe, and he knew they would take care of one another.

“Good,” he said, so softly he could barely hear it himself. 

Belle touched his cheek gently with her other hand, stroking the hair back from his brow with trembling fingers. “I don’t want you to go,” she whispered. “I love you.”

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes against the tears that were trying to break free. “You don’t have to say that, sweetheart,” he said softly. “Not now. You don’t need to pretend for me.”

He felt the brush of her body as she leaned over him, and she whispered against his lips, “I’m not pretending.”

Then she kissed him, and it was like wildfire.

Rumpelstiltskin’s eyes flew open, as life and magic poured back through him, making his heart race, and Belle drew back, her eyes wide and bright.

“True love’s kiss,” she said, a smile lighting her face, “breaks any curse.”


	25. Chapter 25

Ruby's head was aching.

She opened her eyes, wincing in the bright morning light. That wasn't right. She remembered being underground in the cold, dank darkness beneath the crypt. She brought up her hand gingerly to her head, her fingers brushing against dried blood on her right temple.

"So you're awake at last, eh?"

Ruby turned her head to find her grandmother sitting close by. It took her a moment to recognise the room, her own bedroom in the inn. Her grandmother had pulled the chair over, and from the looks of it, had been awake, knitting, all night. Ruby struggled to sit up, her arms shaking with effort, and Granny caught her, helping her to sit back against the pillows.

"Easy, girl," she said. "You've had a busy night."

"I did?" Ruby grimaced as pain shot through her head. "I didn't think I was going to get out of there."

Granny offered her a glass of water. "You're not the only one," she said, her voice sharp. "What kind of fool are you to go down into a witch's lair on your own?"

Ruby sipped some of the water. "You know I had to," she said.

Her grandmother's hand caught one of hers, squeezing it tightly. "I thought she'd killed you, Red," she said, her voice low and unsteady. "That bitch showed face at City Hall, dressed up in your skin, and I thought she'd killed you."

Ruby's eyes burned. "Granny..."

"They didn't realise," her grandmother said, staring at their linked hands. "They didn't even notice the moon was up." Her hand was shaking in Ruby's, and Ruby was shocked to realise that her grandmother had tears on her face. "Don't scare me like that again, girl. I don't think my heart could take it."

Ruby pushed herself closer to the edge of the bed, and put her arms around her grandmother, who held her just as tightly. "I'll try my best," she promised, breathing in the scent that was and always had been home to her. She drew back. "How did you find me?"

Her grandmother's expression took on the more familiar look of mild exasperation. "How do I ever find you?" she said. "I have a nose, don't I? And I knew which part of town you were in." She lifted her hand to Ruby's cheek, patting it gently. "You weren't exactly sitting quietly either."

Ruby looked at her in surprise. "I don't remember," she said. "I remember finding chests, and she was there and..." She frowned in confusion. "I think she knocked me out with magic. It's all hazy after that." She shook her head slowly, looking down at her hands. Her frown deepened at the sight of dark bruises around her wrists. "Were there chains?"

"By the time we got to you, there wasn't much left intact, even if there were chains," Granny said with a crooked smile. She got up and went over to the dresser, returning with a tub of ointment. "No one told the witch that locking you up is a bad idea, and good thing too. You tore the place to pieces." 

She spread a towel across her lap, and lifted Ruby's hand onto it, then gently started dabbing the ointment onto the marks.

Ruby was silent for several minutes, watching her grandmother tend her bruises. Finally, she tentatively asked, "Did she hurt anyone?"

Her grandmother snorted. "Didn't know what hit her," she said. "I knew who she was before she even stepped in the door and Blue pinned her down and stripped her magic before she could try to do a damned thing."

Ruby shuddered with relief. "Good," she whispered. "I thought maybe..." She shook her head. "I don't know what I thought. I just know I was useless. Taken out and locked up because I didn't watch my own back."

The fingers on her wrist stilled. "Is that what you think?" her grandmother said, quiet amusement in her voice. "Red, you are the most bone-headed child I ever came across. You went in to find the woman's heart and you did it. When we broke through the door, you were sitting with the heart in the box at your feet." She shook her head with a chuckle. "Never saw a wolf looking like the cat who got the cream before."

Ruby stared at her. "I found it?"

"Why'd'you think you tore the room apart?" Granny smiled. "You'd even dug up the floor."

Ruby buried her face in her hand. "God, how embarrassing," she said with a helpless laugh. "I must have looked like a hyperactive retriever."

"A little bigger," Granny said. She tilted Ruby's chin up, examining her head. "You want something for your head? You got a hell of a knock there.”

“Maybe some aspirin,” Ruby agreed. “And I’m starving.”

Granny rose from the chair. “We should go downstairs,” she said. “I’ll get Todd to throw together something for you. Snow’ll be by to make sure you’re okay, you can count on that. I had to kick her out.”

“She always pushes herself too hard,” Ruby murmured, bending over to examine her face in the mirror. The gash on her brow looked worse than it was, and the bruise spreading out from it made her look like hell. She was pale too, but she usually was after the moon. The change was exhausting enough without taking on a witch.

“Pot and kettle, you two,” Granny said with a sniff. “As bad as each other.” She waved Ruby towards the bathroom. “Go, clean up and take some aspirin. I’ll have something warm waiting for you when you come down.”

Ruby nodded, padding through to the bathroom.

She was still in the clothes she had worn the night before, but they were in tatters. The legs of her tights were shredded, and her shirt looked like there was only enough of it left to make a dishcloth. She peeled it off, looking at it with a sigh. It was one of her favourites. 

“You died bravely,” she informed it, tossing the scraps in the trash. “Fighting evil is a noble cause.”

She hopped into the shower, turning the spray on full power and winced as bruises she wasn’t aware of started throbbing. She didn’t want to look down to see what kind of mess she was in. She knew it was going to be pretty bad, and every one of the wounds would have come before the moon rose. 

She couldn’t remember all of what happened, but she remembered being tossed through the air like a rag doll. Most of the time, being a werewolf was a curse, but sometimes, the strength and resilience it brought was a blessing. 

By the time she emerged, the smell of bacon and eggs was coiling up through the building and her stomach growled. Granny didn’t even turn when she entered. She just set a platter on the counter and smiled.

Ruby tore into the food ravenously, glancing back as Granny came around the counter and dragged back her wet hair, twisting it into a braid.

“Don’t want you to catch a chill,” she said, patting Ruby’s shoulders gently. 

Ruby reached up to squeeze her hand.

Granny snorted, waving her away, and went back to work.

Ruby had barely finished her breakfast when the door of the diner opened, and she exclaimed in relief, scrambling off her stool and rushing over to hug Snow, who hugged her back just as tightly until Ruby yelped, “Bruises! Bruises!”

Snow stepped back, holding up her hands. “I didn’t do it!”

Ruby couldn’t help laughing. “Not this time,” she agreed, dragging Snow over to one of the booths. “You’re okay? All of you?”

Snow nodded. She looked tired, her face drawn, but happier. “Henry and Emma got back yesterday as well. They’re having breakfast with Regina back at the apartment.”

Ruby hesitated, then asked quietly, “How is she? I mean, her mom…”

“Her mom’s still alive,” Snow said quietly. “Safely locked up. Thanks to you, we have her heart now, but we’re just waiting until Blue says it’s safe enough to go near her to put it back where it came from.”

“But she’s locked up,” Ruby said, frowning. “Doesn’t that stop her magic?”

“Blue doesn’t want to take the chance,” Snow answered. “She’s making sure there’s nothing left for Cora to use. We don’t want her to get Regina back to her side again, not after how hard we’ve fought.” She rubbed her eyes. “It’s been a tough few weeks.”

Ruby reached across the table to take her hands. “But we’re all still standing,” she said.

“Maybe,” Snow said quietly. “We haven’t been able to get a hold of Belle or… or Rumpelstiltskin’s son since they got back.”

Ruby stared at her. “Something happened to Rumpelstiltskin?”

Snow nodded, quickly explaining everything that had happened to the group that had gone to New York. Ruby felt sick to her stomach. She was one of the people who had seen how attached Belle was getting to Rumpelstiltskin, even without her memories. If something had happened to him, if he was gone, she had no one left but her friends. 

“I need to get over there,” she said, sliding out of the booth. “I need to make sure Belle’s okay.”

“It was locked up when Charming tried,” Snow said. “He went over first thing.”

Ruby shook her head. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have a key. Wait here.” She bolted for the stairs, taking them three at a time, and rushed back down a moment later, key in her hand. “Can you drive me over?”

Snow nodded. “Of course.”

The pink house looked deserted, but Ruby knew better than to judge on first glance. She peered through the windows, seeing no one, but she knew that was Belle’s safest place, and the one place she wouldn’t leave willing. 

She tried the key in the door, but it wouldn’t turn, and that made her lips twitch. Someone didn’t want them coming in, which suggested that Rumpelstiltskin was still alive and meddling somewhere inside.

“Belle!” she called, knocking on the door. “Belle, are you in there?”

“Maybe they’re somewhere else?” Snow suggested. 

Ruby shook her head, smiling. “They’re in there, and that grumpy asshole is trying to keep us out.” She rattled the lock again, then called out, “Belle, tell that boyfriend of yours that if I don’t get to see you’re okay, I’m going to break the window and come in that way, and he knows I’d do it!”

The door opened a split-second later.

Rumpelstiltskin was standing there, looking unusually rumpled. His shirt was untucked, his tie was gone, the top button of his shirt undone. He scowled at them. “Haven’t any of you heard of manners?” he snapped.

“You’re okay!”

Rumpelstiltskin’s eyes flicked to Snow. “Well-observed, your Majesty, but if you don’t mind, Belle’s asleep just now, and as much as I’m sure she’d be delighted to see both of you, she’s needing her rest.”

“Rumpel, be nice.”

Ruby could see the way the switch flipped, and his expression softened as he looked towards the stairs, and the woman making her way down them. Something was different. It didn’t seem as sad as it had before, when he looked at Belle and she didn’t know who he was.

“I was nice,” he said, approaching the bottom of the stairs to meet her, offering her his hand. She laid her fingers lightly in his, her eyes dancing. She was wearing one of his shirts, Ruby noticed, and it covered her to her knees. “I only told them to go away.”

Belle gave him a fond look. “That isn’t nice,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. She turned back to Ruby and Snow, smiling.

And that was different too. 

The woman in front of them radiated warmth and confidence, nothing like the frightened, lost girl Ruby had known for so many weeks. Ruby stared at her in astonishment.

“Belle? You… you’re you again?”

Belle ducked her head with a smile. “Is it that obvious?”

Ruby squealed, rushing into the hallway and grabbing her in a hug. “You’re you!”

Belle hugged her tightly. “I am!” She pulled back, giving Ruby a playfully suspicious look. “We’re still okay to be friends now, right? You don’t mind bookworms with grumpy boyfriends?”

“Oh please,” Ruby laughed. “I eat grumpy boyfriends for breakfast.” She tugged Belle over. “Snow, this is Belle. Actual Belle not Belle that you met.”

Snow shook her head, laughing. “Nice to properly meet you,” she said. 

Belle beamed at her, then skipped back to Rumpelstiltskin, who was giving his ceiling a thorough inspection. “Can they join us for breakfast, Rumpel? I’m sure they’d like to meet Baelfire as well.”

He sighed, but there was a warmth in his eyes as he looked at Belle. “Is this going to be my life now, sweetheart? People coming to my house and expecting to be treated like guests and friends?”

Belle kissed him on the cheek and Ruby grinned from ear to ear as the terror of the forest blushed like a schoolboy. “Yes,” Belle said firmly. “That’s what happens when you have guests and friends.” She slipped her arm through his. “It’ll be fun.”

He gazed at her with such affection in his eyes it was hard to believe that so many people were afraid of him. “Well then,” he said, “if I must.”


End file.
